Jamaica folks have ‘Coffee with a Cop’

By Victoria Zunitch, Queens Chronicle
Original article HERE

Jamaica folks have ‘Coffee with a Cop’ 1 The 103rd Precinct in Jamaica turned out in friendly force last Wednesday at the Starbucks on Sutphin Boulevard to meet with members of the public at a “Coffee with a Cop” event.

“It was very successful. We plan on doing more in the future,” said Det. Marc Costa of the 103rd Precinct’s Crime Prevention and Community Affairs Office.

People were invited via media notices, websites and an email the precinct sent out to residents to stop by the store at 89-02 Sutphin Blvd., a short walk from the F line and right across the street from the Queens County Courthouse.

“It will allow community members access to uniformed personnel in an informal setting and provide an opportunity to converse with officers freely,” the email said.

“Coffee with a Cop” is being used for similar events being held around the country.

The Hawthorne, Calif. Poloice Department is widely believed to have hosted the first one in March 2011. The idea was for police and community members to have a chance to meet informally in a neutral space to drink coffee, discuss community issues and ultimately build relationships and trust.

Within two years, similar events were being held in more than 36 states and is now a regular program in more than 175 communities in all 50 states, as well as internationally, according to the U.S. Department of Justice website and Coffeewithacop.com.

The Jamaica event was attended by a small but enthusiastic group of local citizens and some members of the 103rd Precinct Community Council. One woman, a lifelong Jamaica resident, popped in and out, having made a special trip simply to tell the officers she thinks they do a great job and appreciates their work.

Citizens who would like to pass on a tip but don’t feel their information is solid enough for a formal complaint or feel intimidated by the prospect of stopping by the precinct can attend community events or the 103rd Precinct Community Council meetings and speak to an officer on the side.

Costa said community events like “Coffee with a Cop” help the police do their job by giving citizens a chance to report on general issues in the neighborhood and often producing specific tips that lead to arrests.

Several recent drug arrests were made as a result of tips that were passed on in this way, he said.

Sgt. David Strom, supervisor of the precinct’s new Neighborhood Coordination Officer program, attended the event, with several of his officers stopping in. Neighborhood Coordination Officers are assigned to specific geographic areas of the precinct.

The event was just the right flavor for the Sutphin Boulevard Starbucks, which opened last March as the first of 15 planned community development stores dedicated to making the shops part of low- and medium-income communities by using local contractors and minority- and women-owned bakers and dedicating space to local nonprofit and community events.

The Sutphin store’s Opportunity Youth program also launched in March as a partnership between the store, the Queens Community House and the YMCA’s Y Roads Center. It helps unemployed, out-of-school adults aged 16 to 25 to enter the workforce.