More Coffee with a Cop sessions coming

By Jenni Grubbs, Fort Morgan Times
Original article HERE

Fort Morgan Chief of Public Safety Paul Schultz set getting to know the community as one of the top priorities for the police department’s officers, but he also wants the community to get to know the department members.

There will be plenty of opportunities for that over the coming year, according to a city news release.

The department will continue building on the chief’s initial plan for bringing cops and the community together through the Coffee with a Cop program. It allows people to stop by various restaurants and sit down and visit with the chief and various officers.

The initial run of six sessions held in early February had even more of a response than Schultz expected, drawing around 150 people. The chief, Community Resource Officer Roger Doll and various other FMPD supervisors and officers spent time visiting with whoever showed up, letting them ask questions and find out more about the city’s police officers and department.

“Our goal was 100, so we passed it by almost 50 percent,” Schultz said upon the initial run’s conclusion. “We’re excited about it.”

With that success in mind, Schultz and the police department members now plan to hold at least 24 more such Coffee with a Cop session over the coming year. Two of them are set in April at Fort Morgan restaurants.

“Our initial Coffee with a Cop series of six events was very successful,” Schultz stated. “We contacted almost 150 people and had some great conversations. We are now expanding the program to include all police department supervisors and their officers.”

A total of 24 more Coffee With a Cop sessions are expected to be held over the next 12 months, the release stated.

Future sessions that are currently set up include:

• Tuesday, April 4, at 9 a.m. at McDonald’s, hosted by Sgt. Kevin Miller.

• Monday, April 17, at 7 a.m. at Arby’s, hosted by Sgt. Tony Gagliano.

Many other sessions do not yet have dates, times or locations, but those things will be announced “as the schedule is firmed up,” according to the city. As with the sessions held in February, people are welcome to stop by and chat with the police department members there, asking any law enforcement-related or other questions they have.

The plan calls for each of the four FMPD patrol sergeants to offer three one-hour Coffee with a Cop sessions, according to the release. The sergeants also would have different patrol officers at each of their sessions, and the members of the public who show up would be able to ask questions of the sergeants or the officers.

There also would be three sessions each with the chief, the two lieutenants and the community resource officer, according to the city.

The locations for all these Coffee with a Cop sessions will vary, but they will be at local restaurants and coffee shops.

“The informal sessions offer a unique opportunity for community members to ask questions, make comments and offer suggestions, and also learn more about the police department’s work in Fort Morgan’s neighborhoods,” the city release stated. “One of the keys to Coffee with a Cop is that is removes the barriers that routinely exist between police officers and community members, allowing for the kind of relaxed, one-on-one interactions that are the necessary foundation of partnerships. Informal contact in a friendly atmosphere increases trust between police officers and the members of the community, which is critical to public safety and problem solving.”

Back in February, Schultz had told the Fort Morgan Times he planned to hold more Coffee with a Cop sessions, and now he is making good on that statement.

“I think it’s great that we have this face-to-face communication,” Schultz had said.

A goal of the sessions is for conversations to happen between the police department members and local folks about “what matters to community members,” the release stated.