Dewayne Garrison, manager at McDonald’s restaurant on 307 E. Page, welcomed law enforcement officers from the Malvern Police Department and citizens who attended the event and expressed his appreciation to everyone. Coffee with a Cop is a national law enforcement program that brings police officers and the community members they serve together—over coffee to discuss community issues, learn more about each other and build relationships in an informal, neutral environment.
“This is the first time they’ve done this promotion, ‘Coffee with a Cop’, here in Waskom,” the police chief said. “We’re very excited about it. It’s a great thing for us.”
As a traffic patrol officer, Watsonville Police Officer Devon McMahon has his share of contact with the community, although possibly not always the type the community hopes for. That changed Wednesday during Coffee With a Cop, an event held nationwide to bring law enforcement officials and the public together in a light-hearted social shindig.
“This is the way that policing used to be done. A lot of times now we rely on social media and technology. You used to go to your corner store, and you drunk a cop of coffee and you talked to everybody. That’s how you got information, and that’s how people in the community interacted with law enforcement. We’re trying to bring a little bit of that back and outreach a little bit,” said Daniel Priddy.
That relationship between law enforcement and the public is important, noted Jacobs. “Our community members are the eyes and ears of our small communities, and that’s why we need them to team up with law enforcement so we can reduce the crime that occurs within our area,” he said.
“So we are on scene at Dunn Brothers Coffee hosting our annual coffee with a cop event,” says Dupres. “We’ve had a great turn out, we’ve had about 35 or more people show up to talk to us about issues in the community and just chat with us,” says Glasgow.
The event was a surprise for some members of the public. “I just walked in for breakfast,” said Paul Swedzinski. But Swedzinski ended up chatting with Marshall police officer Adam Baumann over coffee while he waited for his food.
“It’s good to get out with the community. We are out here trying to help people as it is. Why shouldn’t we be able get to know them? I work nights, I don’t get to talk to these people. I get to talk to a completely different group of people, the night crowd you know. People I get to talk to today it’s nice to get out and about and have a coffee with them,” said Night Shift Patrolman Andrew Roach.
Ontario County Undersheriff David Frasca was pleased with the outcome of Ontario County’s event and is already in talks to hold another one in Geneva later this year. He added that in addition to police officers, the event was attended by personnel from the correction department and 911 Center.
El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles and his deputies invited the community to join them for a “Coffee and Conversation” event Wednesday. People were able to ask questions and share concerns at locations in El Paso, Clint and Canutillo.
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