Montville Police Do Justice to Coffee with a Cop

By Melissa Benno, TapInto.Net
Original article HERE

Oct. 3 marked the Montville Township Police Department’s first Coffee with a Cop event, held at the Red Barn Restaurant in Towaco. Sponsored by the police and the Montville Township Drug Awareness Council, it was an opportunity for residents to meet the officers in town, ask questions, and voice concerns.

Coffee with a Cop is a national program launched in Hawthorne, California in 2011 when officers from the Hawthorne, California police department were looking for ways to interact more successfully with the citizens they served each day, according to CoffeeWithACop.com. Events are now held in all 50 states and internationally. “Community policing” is a concept taught in police handbooks, and it means establishing a bond within the community in order to be more effective. Coffee with a Cop is a program that seeks to have officers meet with the community in a non-crisis situation so that the public is familiar with officers. Coffee with a Cop events are relaxed, informal and open for discussions about the issues community residents feel are important, the website states.

Montville’s event was held on the third anniversary of the national Coffee with a Cop day, on which police departments across the nation also held events. Representatives from the Drug Awareness Council had opioid information pamphlets for anyone who was interested, and Morris County Sheriff James Gannon also attended. Acting Police Chief Andrew Caggiano was also in attendance, along with Captain Mark Olsson and several officers.

Bud and Dot Hilkman said they eat at the Red Barn Restaurant every day, so they stopped over in the area where the event was being held to say hi and tell the officers “what a great job you’re doing.”

Dmitriy Khalilov came by to meet the people on the force, he said, but also to discuss with Caggiano some worries he had about Pine Brook Road in Towaco.

“I live near Cedar Hill School,” he said, “And there are many little kids between the elementary and Transfiguration over on Two Bridges, yet there are no crosswalks by Cedar Road where I live. It’s very dangerous and people speed in that area. I would really like it if they had a sign that showed the speed limit and the speed a car is actually traveling.”

Khalilov said it was a nice event and it was great to meet face to face with the officers.

Caggiano was encouraged by the turnout and said it was another venue to sit down and have a casual conversation with a police officer.

“We are hoping to do it again in the future at the next opportunity,” he said.