Franklin Township Police Department Hosts ‘Coffee with a Cop’ All Over Town

By Malik A. Lyons, TAPinto Franklin Township
Original article HERE

The Franklin Township Police Department hosted its first Coffee with a Cop event for the year, and it is planned to be a monthly event.

“We will be trying to do this monthly, it won’t be as widespread every month, but we will be tapping different locations from month to month,” Sgt. Sean Hebbon said. “We will sporadically advertise events throughout the community, some will be up north some south sometimes we will hit more than one location. It will be a constant effort because a lot of times people will be a little hesitant going to the first event not knowing what it is really about, but hopefully, it will catch on. If they missed this opportunity they won’t have to wait for an entire year to participate.”

Coffee with a Cop is a national initiative supported by The United States Department of Justice and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Similar events were held across the country as local police departments strive to make lasting connections with the communities they serve.

In Franklin, Coffee with a Cop provided the community a unique opportunity to ask members of Franklin Township’s Police Department (FTPD) questions about the department’s work in the community it serves, in a relaxed one-on-one environment.

The FTPD was one of, if not the only department in Central New Jersey to have multiple locations operating at one time.

Franklin Township is 47 square miles, with people living in every corner, and due to long work days and time consuming daily commutes, people tend to stick to their part of town. To combat this potential issue the FTPD felt it was important to have multiple times and locations, to make sure as many people as possible can have an opportunity to participate.

Six different locations in the township hosted today’s event, Dunkin Donuts at 920 Hamilton Street, Starbucks at 120 Cedar Grove Lane, Hamilton Street BBQ at 841 Hamilton Street, Kettleman’s Bagels at 456 Elizabeth Avenue, Moe’s Southwest Grill at 120 Cedar Grove Lane and Confectionately Yours at 3391 Route 27 all participated at different times throughout the day to ensure all corners of the township were covered.

TAPinto Franklin Township will gather a list of some of the most frequent questions asked by the community to share with the public at a later date. One question not asked by the community was ‘what can we as residents do to make our neighborhood safer?’

“Keep an open line of communication with our police department, stay knowledgeable about events and issues happening in the township and also, knowing who your neighbors are and forming a network with them to exchange information, using block associations or social apps like Nextdoor,” Hebbon said.

The main focus of the program is to advance the practice of community policing through improving relationships between police officers and community members one cup of coffee at a time.