The men in blue showed up to Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen ready for coffee and conversation. Not only was the Lima Police Department there, but they expanded to their partners and had the Mercy Health-St. Rita’s campus police join them.
People had the chance to meet with Columbia Police officers, ask questions and voice their concerns over a cup of hot chocolate Wednesday at the Richland Library.
The Steuben County Council on Aging’s Coffee with a Cop event was a big success, said Wendy Kellett, COA activities coordinator.
Not one community member attended the Fort Morgan Police Department’s hour-long “Coffee with a Cop” session on Tuesday morning, Jan. 28. Administrative Sgt. Steven Brown sipped coffee at Zazzy Cafe during the department’s first Coffee with a Cop of 2020 Tuesday morning, and he said a lack of community response during events like this could actually be a good sign for the department.
Coffee with a Cop is not a new idea. Local residents spend the morning with local police officers from various units. It was something a little different Thursday night during Pizza with the Police at Round Table Pizza.
Attendees of Tuesday’s discussion said they enjoyed the event, and thought it was informative. One Senior Center member, Gretchen Miller, said the officers shared a special piece of equipment as part of their conversation — florescent yellow and red gloves and mittens for officers to wear when signaling traffic. Miller said she was surprised by the officers’ experiences, where drivers came dangerously close to them because they misread the officers’ signals.
More than 30 free cups of coffee were distributed to attendees of the Crystal Lake McDonald’s Coffee with A Cop event on Tuesday, January 21, 2020.
Englewood resident Mark Taylor said the event gave him the opportunity to see Englewood police officers for who they are rather than for the work they do. “They’re not all Superman, and (residents) expect (police) to be Superman. They’re just human,” said Taylor. “It’s nice to get to speak to them.”
Hawks Point offered to host the first event of 2020. Life Enrichment Director Sharon Wallace called the afternoon “awesome.” “I’m so happy with the turnout, and our residents and also people from the community were so happy to come here and visit with the officers, and they were so kind and cordial,” Wallace said. “It was a great afternoon.”
Throughout the morning we had a chat with families and community members and were delighted to shout a cup of joe to get the conversation started. Not only did we meet some friendly Bayside faces, but we also met a family visiting all the way from Sweden.
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