“Anytime you’ve got events like this where you can interact with the community and build relationships with them, that gives them the chance to get to know us as people,” Smith said. “It allows us to get the chance to address any issues they may have in the community because we can do it one a one-on-one basis, and they get immediate feedback from us.”
It was evident from the people who stopped by Ember + Forge on Wednesday that they enjoyed talking with city police officers about a variety of topics in a casual setting. There were times when the discussions touched on serious topics. Erie police Sgt. Geoff Filutze noted, for example, that he fielded a lot of traffic complaints. But, by and large, the conversations seemed mostly casual, with a lot of smiles and laughter shared.
Residents enjoyed coffee and donut holes, and children received activities and safety handouts for the upcoming Halloween season. Hasbrouck Heights Police Chief Michael Colaneri thanked TD Bank for hosting the event, and noted they are a major sponsor of the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run.
When asked what questions he would like to be asked, Bird said, “I hope they ask something that’s on their mind that they don’t really know or they want to find out our perspective on. A common question that we get asked a lot because we’re university police is, ‘can you stop someone in the city?’ or ‘can you stop someone out in the canyon?’ And the answer to that is yes… We have jurisdiction anywhere Texas A&M owns property.”
Botieri said some talked about what is going on in the country, asking questions about training and events involving police in other parts of the country. “A few said this is good because there’s a negative perception about police and this can only help,” Botieri said. Cathy Rhear, district manager for Dunkin’, said Botieri and his officers certainly helped dispel that perception among her staff, even if it did mean giving away a few free meals.
Ugly Mug patron Kevin May said the event is a great idea and said the efforts of the officers are really noticeable. He said he has been coming to Poughkeepsie for work every day for more than a decade and declared that he feels much safer now and the police are much more visible than they were years ago.
Police Chief James Bongiorno said more than 100 people lined up outside the store when the event started at 3:30 p.m. By 5 p.m., close to 200 had stopped by.
“I’m enjoying Coffee With a Cop because it gives me an opportunity to meet with the local police officers on a one-on-one basis – it’s not in a traffic check or anything like that,” Palmer said. “They are in an official capacity, but they’re just meeting with us one-on-one in a comfortable setting and we have coffee.”
The deli was packed with people who took the opportunity to mingle with officers. Suzanne Jordan is a local mom who brought her two sons to the event. “I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to bring them down here to interact with the police officers,” said Jordan.
At the Hingham Street location in Rockland, there was a solid turnout of people who met with the police department. This was the first first Coffee with a Cop event in town.
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