Elkin Police Officer Kim Robison meets with local residents at McDonald’s

By Beanie Taylor, Elkin Tribune
Original article HERE

On Saturday, the Coffee With A Cop program continued in Elkin with Breakfast With A Cop thanks to McDonald’s and Capt. Kim Robison of the Elkin Police Department.

Guests at McDonald’s on CC Camp Road welcomed Robison as she visited tables sharing stories and laughter as part of the program which is intended to make citizens feel more comfortable with their officers during this time of national tension.

“[Coffee With A Cop] is a great idea to share our law enforcement officers with the community,” claimed Director of Operations for McDonald’s Mark Soots, “and to get out here and feel comfortable with officers. It particularly helps the younger officers get customer service experience.”

“We’ve got a lot of new officers,” explained Robison. “Some of the guys were a little resistant at first, but they ended up liking it.

“I told them to go and have fun,” continued Robison, “talk to [the citizens] and get to know them a little bit.”

Among those citizens Saturday was Ace Glass. “I think it’s a wonderful thing,” said Glass, who joked around and had fun with the idea of spending extensive time with local officers.

Judy Walker, member of the Elkin City Schools Board of Education, also appreciated the Coffee With A Cop program. “I think anything they can do [that brings officers and citizens together without conflict] is good for building relationships.”

“Talking to people outside our usual purview [is important for relations],” agreed Robison. “I love coming up here.

“In the mornings, we have the veterans up here,” explained Robison when asked what her favorite part of the program was. “They are endangered. Everyone would benefit from coming up here and talking to them.”

Coffee/Breakfast With A Cop is not the only activity planned to bring Elkin police officers together with the community they serve. “We’re planning an ice cream social in June,” stated Robison, explaining the details are still being worked out.

McDonald’s works with emergency service providers in many ways. “We want to help out with community involvement with our officers,” claimed Soots, describing several of the ways McDonald’s has been involved with providers including participation in fire safety programs and treat cards for officers to give children to diffuse difficult situations. “The police really love it,” alleged Soots, “because it helps ease tension in the kids.”