Public turns out for ‘Coffee with a Cop’

By Randy Patrick, The Kentucky Standard
Original article HERE

It was a coincidence that Coffee with Cops happened on National Coffee Day.

“I heard that on the way here, and it just put a smile on my face,” said Bardstown’s new police chief, Kim Kraeszig, who was greeting townspeople Friday morning at Fresh Coffee, Pastries & More.

It was an idea she brought with her from Louisville Metro, where she recently retired as an assistant chief.

“We want people to be able to interact with the officers in a relaxed setting” and get to know them, she said. It’s part of her plan to build a better relationship between the people and the police and put more emphasis on community policing.

“If there’s anybody in the community that feels like they don’t trust the police, we want to work on that,” she said. “We would love to put officers on every street corner, but that’s not reality. But by building those relationships, that helps to make our community safer.”

People who live here know who belongs to a neighborhood and when they see something that looks suspicious, she said, she wants them to trust the police enough to “let us know so we can prevent crimes before they occur.”

For two hours Friday morning, from 8 to 10, the Police Department worked out of Fresh Coffee.

“This is Bardstown Station 2,” Sgt. Tom Blair said.

Blair was seated with other officers at a long table in the center of the dining room and had just been talking with an officer about an assignment.

“We’re going to be taking our calls from here, and I’m doing my roll call from here this morning,” he said. “Everybody’s here right now. … They’ll be making runs from here.”

So far, there had been only one that was minor, but it was still early, he said.

The coffee shop, which recently opened on Third Street between Court Square and Flaget, was crowded just after 8 as people who work downtown and others came by to meet the officers.

In the back of the room, Kraeszig was talking with several women, including Kim Huston, the community development director, and some of her staff, and Councilwoman Kecia Copeland.

Up front, a new officer, Jesse Harp, who came to Bardstown Police from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in August, was talking with guests Susan Christensen and Mark Uttich.

Christensen said they didn’t know about Coffee with Cops but were pleasantly surprised that they happened to be there when the officers were.

“We just came here for the coffee and ended up with the chief of police and all the officers, and we’re happy” to get to meet them, she said.

Uttich said he had heard good things about the new police chief and how the officers were supporting her, and he was impressed by her credentials.

“She’ll do a great job here in Bardstown,” he said. “It’s going to be a whole new atmosphere and a better one.”

Harp said police work is a little different from what people see on television. For example, he said, officers care about their community and emotions like anybody else, and “it’s hard to show that on TV.”

“Especially in a small town like this, it’s easier to know your police officers,” he said.

Tony Short, who works for Merrill Lynch and was working out of his home Friday, had taken his daughter to school and stopped in Fresh for a cup of coffee and to show his support for the men and women in uniform.

On the way out, he shook Kraeszig’s hand and welcomed her to town.

“There’s a lot of great things going on in Bardstown, and people focus on the negative … but it’s good to see these people out here supporting the community,” he said.