Coffee with a Cop brings officers and community members together

By Josh Robinson, WBBJ
Original article HERE

The best part of waking up? Your morning cup of coffee.
Tuesday morning, the Selmer Police Department hosted Coffee with a Cop at Hardee’s.

“We want to reach out to our public and show that we’re people too, and that we’re here to serve them,” Lt. Ted Roberts with the Selmer Police Department said.

Lt. Roberts and Mayor John Smith got together earlier this year and came up with the idea.
Officials from all over McNairy County came out to say good morning.

“Even our Assistant D.A. is here, our Sheriff, some of the folks from the Selmer Police Department,” Mayor Smith said.

Barrett Stevens and Carroll Ivey own a business in Selmer and wanted to come out to show their support.

“We’re here in appreciation of our police force, our local law enforcement, and we want them to know how important they are to our business, and to our community and we do appreciate them,” Stevens, owner of Cook Coggin Engineering, said.

Community members say seeing police officers in this kind of setting helps them realize they have more in common than just driving the same streets every day.

“To let people know our policemen are normal people, they’re serving our community, and I think our community needs to be familiar with those officers that are putting their lives on the line for us,” Ivey, owner of Cook Coggin Engineering, said.

Lt. Roberts said Coffee with a Cop went so well Tuesday morning, they’re planning on doing Cola with a Cop one evening so community members can meet the night time patrol officers too.