OUR VIEW: GPD commended for its recent outreach efforts

By Pacific Daily News
Original article HERE

We commend the Guam Police Department for its efforts to reach out to the community and talk to residents.

This week, police officers went to the McDonald’s in Tamuning for about two hours for its first “Coffee with a Cop” outreach effort. The event allowed residents to discuss “any issues, any questions, any concerns … and providing potential solutions,” said Guam Police Department Chief Joseph I. Cruz.

“Coffee with a Cop” is part of the Guam Police Department’s new Mandaña community-oriented policing initiative.

Police officers will go to other McDonald’s locations across the island in coming months, because different communities have different priorities, Cruz said, and police hope the outreach efforts will help them to specific concerns.

“I like to see them friendly like this, talking to the public, coming in, sitting down and listening to our concerns,” Tamuning resident Patrick Sullivan said. “It shows that they’re willing to listen and willing to make changes in their policies.”

Cruz said residents don’t have to wait until “Coffee with a Cop” comes to an area near them.

“Any resident is welcome to contact the Guam Police Department at any one of the precincts or come up to the headquarters or give me a call,” Cruz said. “If the public wants to talk to the Guam Police Department, please, we encourage that.”

It’s important for members of the community to work with police on improving public safety. Police officers can’t be everywhere and have limited resources and officers, so the input and assistant of residents is vital.

Neighbors should look out for each other, and report suspicious behavior. Anyone with information about a crime should call police. And residents should consider joining their local Neighborhood Watch program, or starting one if they don’t have one.