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Coffee With a Cop gives Auburn residents chance to chat with officers
By Natalie Brophy, Auburnpub.com
Original article HERE
Seven-year-old William Avery wants to be a police officer when he grows up, so his mom Nicole Avery brought him and his little brother Christopher, 5, to the Auburn Police Department’s Coffee With a Cop event Wednesday evening at McDonald’s on Grant Avenue.
Officers gave the Avery boys junior police badges and Chief Shawn Butler and Deputy Chief Roger Anthony posed for photos with the boys. Nicole Avery said the boys were excited to meet the officers and they had a fun time.
To Butler, that’s what this event was all about: Getting to meet and talk with all Auburn residents, no matter how young or how old.
“[Events like this] give us the opportunity to meet the people we serve,” Butler said. “It also gives an opportunity for people to see us officers in a different light.”
Butler said he and Anthony make it a priority to host community outreach events at different venues. He said he reached out to the national Coffee With a Cop organization to set up the event and McDonald’s offered to host.
“McDonald’s has been a long-time partner of the community,” said McDonald’s Field Brand Reputation Manager Christina Crews, who was at the event. “We want to find other ways to serve the community other than dining.”
“What better way to meet your local officers than over a cup of coffee?” Crews added.
In addition to Butler and Anthony, Lt. James Slayton, Officer Sean DeRosa and City Manager Jeff Dygert were also present at the event to speak to the public.
Butler said community members spoke with him about “a little bit of everything,” including traffic concerns in their neighborhoods and drug use in the community.
Auburn resident Joe Rielly Sr. said he came to the event to speak with officers about traffic problems on his street. He is worried about vehicles speeding and running stop signs in a neighborhood where children live.
“They’re very good about wanting to take care of it,” Rielly said of the officers. “They’re doing a good job. I’m happy they had the meeting.”
Bill Berry took the time to speak with the officers about things the police department can do to create a sense of community. He brought up the national issue of police brutality.
“So often we’re influenced by the national perspective that we see on the news,” Berry said. “There are some national issues, but we shouldn’t put that on our police department.”
Butler agreed that people sometimes view police officers in a negative light based on what they see on TV or read in the news.
“This event gives us a chance to bring it back down to a community level where people can see us as those people they went to school with, those people they shop at the same stores with,” Butler said. “We’re there to help.”
