Coffee With a Cop a hit with Toowoomba community

By Peter Hardwick, The Chronicle
Original article HERE

At the inaugural Coffee With a Cop are Cherryl Gilchrist, Senior Constable Stuart Standeaven and Kevin White of Milk and Honey Expresso Bar.IT WAS a case of caffeine and community at Toowoomba’s inaugural Coffee With a Cop morning.

Members of our Thin Blue Line joined with sponsoring organisation Neighbourhood Watch to offer free coffee with a chat at Milk and Honey Espresso Bar in Ann St in Toowoomba’s CBD.

Senior Constable Stuart Standeaven of Toowoomba police said Coffee With a Cop allowed members of the public to engage with officers in a casual environment.

“Most of the time we meet people in a stressful situation such as a domestic violence incident or car crash or something, like that,” he said.

“This allows us to meet members of the public in a relaxed atmosphere and talk about any issues they want to raise and hopefully we can look at ways to solve the problem.

“Neighbourhood Watch is funding this and we’re working in partnership with them.”

Taking advantage of the morning chat, resident Bill Martin said Coffee With a Cop was a positive initiative.

“I think there should be more of this,” he said.

“It should not be a case of ‘them and us’, it should be ‘we’ as we’re all on the same team.

“The police have a difficult job to do and they deserve our support and it’s good to have an informal chat.”