Pooler Police Department hosts Coffee With A Cop community event

By Brittini Ray, Savannah Now
Original article HERE

Dunkin’ Donuts on Pooler Parkway was brimming with activity Friday morning as Pooler police made an appearance at the eatery for a few donuts, a little bit of coffee and a lot of community interaction during a Coffee With A Cop event.

The meet and greet event is organized to forge a strong relationship with the public over a common social interaction — sharing a cup of joe.

“It’s to get citizens to come out and meet with us in a casual setting,” said Sgt. Charles Davis. “We want them to feel relaxed. And what’s a common thing for us all? Getting a cup of coffee.”

Coffee With A Cop is a national movement designed to change the public perception of police departments. It started in Hawthorne, Calif., in 2011, when local police officers began looking for ways to interact more successfully with the citizens they served each day.

The initiative is based on the three tenets of meeting in person, meeting in a casual atmosphere and meeting to build trust. Since its inception, more than 10,000 events have been hosted in all 50 states.

“It’s extremely important that people see we’re humans, too,” Chief Ashley Brown said just before munching on a glazed chocolate Munchkin.

The Pooler Police Department hosts its meet and greets quarterly.

“We started out with Chick-fil-A,” Davis said. “We’ve done it with Front Porch [coffeehouse] … We try to change it up every once in a while.”

From 8 to 10 a.m., officers chatted with citizens, chowed down on donuts and offered up “service with a smile.”

“We think this is a great event,” said Kate Lancor, a visitor from New Hampshire. “We’re on our way to Florida and we always stop in this area. We’re very pleased to see this. And our police chief doesn’t know it yet, but we are going to suggest this event once we get home.”