October 5, 2018

Coffee with a cop

By Rob Story, The Norwood Post
Original article HERE

Approximately 50 citizens rolled through Mountain Village’s Heritage Plaza Wednesday morning to grab a beverage from Starbucks and to speak with police officers in a relaxed setting, as the Mountain Village Police Department observed national Coffee with a Cop day.

Mountain Village Police Chief Chris Broady called the event a fine opportunity “to ask questions, discuss community concerns or simply get to know our officers. These interactions,” he added, “are the foundation of community partnerships.”

Asked what he’d specifically heard from the community Wednesday, Broady chuckled and said, “Well, the first guy asked me why the sky is blue!”

Coffee with a Cop was launched in California in 2011, when officers from the Hawthorne Police Department were looking for ways to interact more successfully with the citizens they served each day.

According to coffeewithacop.com, “Community policing has long been considered a framework for establishing trust between the community and the police. However, over time the character and composition of our nation’s communities have changed due to shifting demographics, more commuters, and the introduction of different communication methods such as websites and social media. … The Hawthorne Police Department hit upon a simple plan to break through the barriers that have been built over the years — a cup of coffee.”

The site maintains that Coffee with a Cop events are now held in all 50 states and calls the program “one of the most successful community oriented policing programs across the country.” The program has also expanded to outside the Unites States to Canada, Europe, Australia, Africa and Latin America.

This is the third year that police have declared the first Wednesday in October as Coffee with a Cop day. In Mountain Village, 10 members of law enforcement (nine from the department, plus a Division of Wildlife officer) mingled with civilians.

Said Broady, “The interactions with the public are good at these events,” adding that Mountain Village has also staged Coffee with a Cop sessions outside the nationally observed days. “Police can’t have the same conversations with their neighbors during a traffic stop. It’s especially helpful to me because (as chief) I’m always in the office.”

According to Town of Mountain Village spokesman Bill Kight, “The majority of contacts law enforcement has with the public happen during emergencies or emotional situations. Those situations are not always the most effective times for relationship building with the community, and some community members may feel that officers are unapproachable on the street. Coffee with a Cop breaks down barriers and allows for relaxed, one-on-one interaction.”

On a phenomenally beautiful Indian Summer day, smiles and laughter abounded; there was no sense whatsoever that any divide existed between law enforcement and locals.

Coffee with a Cop’s mission takes on more gravitas in larger, more diverse cities where distrust and resentment sometimes run deep. A session last month in Berkeley, California, for instance, invoked touchy subjects such as rampant homelessness, public safety, auto theft and ingrained traffic woes.

Said one attendee, “It’s good because it gives the public a chance to see the face of the police department. They’re usually in their cars, so it’s a rare opportunity to interact with members of the police department.”

In Sydney, Australia, Coffee with a Cop was credited with revolutionizing the opinions of police held by recent Vietnamese and Syrian immigrants. In their homelands, they were said to be deathly afraid of police. After Coffee with a Cop, they realized they could actually go to the constabulary and report crimes without leaving their names.

A police superintendent said his department later received many tip-offs about potential illegal activity in the area through the program.

“Police aren’t going to solve anything by sitting around in an office or driving around in a car,” the Australian chief said. “We’ve actually got to have the conversations and the face-to-face meetings.”

As Coffeee with a Cop founder Lt. Robbie Williams recently wrote to fellow officers: “Let’s all join together and (bring) national attention to show American law enforcement at its best and begin building relationships, one cup at a time.”