Shreveport police build trust one cup of coffee at a time

By Lex Talamo, The Shreveport Times
Original article HERE

Shreveport cops met up with concerned citizens at Dunkin Donuts on Mansfield Road for national “Coffee with a Cop” day.

About a dozen members of the Shreveport Police Department stationed themselves at the doughnut shop’s tables early Wednesday morning, where they welcomed both citizens and their questions about police operations in the community.

Oct. 4 marked the official day of the national “Coffee with a Cop” movement, which launched in 2011 with the Hawthorne Police Department in California as a way to “break through the barriers that have built over time … one cup of coffee at a time,” according to the national website.

The Shreveport Police Department regularly has hosted its own community meetings – over coffee – since at least 2014, when it held a gathering at the McDonald’s on North Market Street.

The “Coffee with a Cop” conversations, which last for about two hours each, aim to build relationships and trust between cops and the communities they serve and are an effort of the department’s Community Oriented Policing Bureau.

The gatherings allow members of the public to ask police any questions they may have, as well as share their concerns about issues impacting their community.

“We want to talk, answer questions and hear your ideas about making our city a better place to live, work, and play,” the department wrote on its Facebook posting at a recent “Coffee with a Cop” held at the downtown Rhino coffee shop in Shreveport.

Shreveport resident Michael O’Connor said he attended the event because he believes he can help the police as much as they can help him.

“I think they do a great job, and I think we can do a lot to help them,” he said. “I’d rather be an advocate for myself as well, so I don’t have to wait before they get there.”

Southern Hills resident Diane Lanford attended the event to ask officers about safety concerns she had with her neighborhood, following a series of vehicle and home burglaries that left several family pets killed.  Lanford herself experienced a break-in several years ago.

“I want to arm myself with what I can, to protect my neighborhood and my pets,” Lanford said. “The officer was very kind and helpful, and he gave me some tips I can use. Some people are intimidated by cops, but I feel very comforted to have them here.”

Cpl. David Gardner, who has worked in community policing since 2014, answered both Lanford’s and O’Connor’s questions about self and home protection.

He also provided much-appreciated and simple tips: such as having the police department’s number saved on a cell phone for easy access in times of panic.

“A lot of being defensive about your safety is being prepared, being aware of your surroundings and thinking about how you can not be a victim,” Gardner said.

Heather Kucko, a center coordinator for Pathways in Education, said she and several of her students attended  because she heard Gardner speak about the Oct. 4 event at a Southern Hills Business Association meeting.

“Teenagers in general sometimes have an idea that cops are intimidating or mean,” Kucko said. “I wanted our students to talk about officers and realize they are part of our community, trying to make it safer.”

Officer Leona Gray, who answered several questions from Kucko’s student Reese Smith, 16, about police operations and training, said she considers her job a “blessing.”

“It’s a blessing to be here because you don’t usually get to talk to people on that level, to hear how they feel and their concerns,” Gray said.

Sgt. Amy Bowman, a Community Oriented Policing Bureau West Side Supervisor, said she loves community oriented policing because she’s able to “gain intelligence” from the trust she builds with citizens.

“Community policing isn’t a unit. It’s a concept,” she said. “We have an opportunity to do so much in the community, and you see the positive as well as the negative. It’s the best of the policing world.”

“Coffee with a Cop” has been held in all 50 states, as well as in Canada, Europe, Australia and Africa since its California-based launch in 2011, according to the national movement’s website.