Coffee With a Cop Seeks to Build Bridges Within Community

By ABC 6 News
Original article HERE

It was an event with a twist: The usual “Coffee With a Cop” conversation headed to the barbershop.

The open discussion covered controversial topics that outlined the divide between police and the African American community.

“We have good people,” said Capt. John Sherwin. “We have good humans, but we also have good people.”

Coffee With a Cop was created to bridge the gap between police and the community.

Thursday, officers heard some of the concerns surrounding the African American population in Rochester.

“How do we go from this place where there may be an issue of mistrust, to a place where we make that connection and say OK, we can get with you, we can trust you?” asked James Robertson, program director of the Sports Mentorship Academy.

“It’s about having the brave conversation,” said Police Chief Jim Franklin. “Being able to come to the table and say this is where we’ve come from. And our profession is evolving.”

The conversation allowed officers to see what life is like from the perspective of the people they protect, while also sharing the unseen perspective of those behind the badge.

“We get painted with a broad brush, right? We wear a uniform, which is unfortunate, because I firmly believe that everyone in our department, you would want them to be your neighbor, your friend, someone that would mentor your kid,” Sherwin said. “Because we hire for character.”

Still, said Gilbert Jordan IV, “the trust that you guys are trying to earrn … the same trust that you guys are trying to get, I’m trying to get from you guys.”

Though all the answers to a better, more diverse Rochester weren’t there, an understanding of some of the issues and potential solutions were.