West Mahanoy Township observes National Coffee with a Cop Day

By Stephen J. Pytak, Republican Herald
Original article HERE

At West Mahanoy Township’s first Coffee with a Cop event Wednesday — National Coffee with a Cop Day — Larry S. Chesla, Shenandoah Heights, came out to discuss a few topics, including handicapped parking spaces.

“My neighbor has one. Is that just for his vehicle only or can anyone with a handicapped plate park there?” Chesla, 67, of 130 Swatara Road, asked at the event held at Shenandoah Heights Fire Company, 148 Swatara Road.

“That question was recently posed to Shenandoah Borough Council,” township Police Chief Marvin Livergood said.

On Sept. 18, Shenandoah Borough Council approved a resolution regarding the designation for parking spaces for the handicapped. It gives people with the spaces a permit number to further confirm their right to the spaces.

West Mahanoy Township may develop a similar ordinance, Livergood said.

But for now, the township has been putting up warning signs near those spaces, stating “violators subject to fine and towing, min. fine $50, max. fine $200,” according to the township’s other full-time police officer, John Kaczmarczyk III.

“We’re starting to get the signs up now. We need that sign there to be able to get people with the maximum fines and tow the vehicles. And, unfortunately, without that sign there, we can’t tow them,” Kaczmarczyk said.

According to Michael B. Michalik, township secretary/treasurer, there are 15 handicapped parking spaces in the township.

Coffee with a Cop is a national initiative supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

“Coffee with a Cop is a movement designed to help break down barriers in communities between residents and officers that can make it hard to address crime and public safety,” Russell Washington, acting director of the DOJ Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, said in a press release. “It is a simple plan: Officers invite residents to join them for a cup of coffee and a conversation. It has been spreading like wildfire ever since the first cup was poured, and today more than 2,000 law enforcement agencies throughout the United States participate.”

Coffee with a Cop started in Hawthorne, California, according to the website for the U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services.

That was in 2011, according to the website for the Hawthorne police.

“We were looking for ways to interact more successfully with the citizens that we served each day. Community policing has long been considered a framework for establishing trust between the community and the police. Our Community Affairs Unit hit upon a simple plan to break through the barriers that have been built over the years — a cup of coffee,” according to Hawthorne police website.

“On Oct. 7, 2016, the first National Coffee with a Cop Day was held. Across the U.S. over 600 events celebrated community and created new and lasting relationships,” according to the DOJ website.

In July, Orwigsburg police held its first Coffee with a Cop at Market Square Coffee House, 118 W. Market St.

Orwigsburg police Officer Tanner Noecker suggested the borough try it. He said Lower Merion Township police in Montgomery County, where he had worked previously, held a similar event.

West Mahanoy Township police held its event Wednesday in an effort to improve its public relations. The township bought the coffee. And the township solicitor, James J. Amato, Shenandoah Heights, bought the doughnuts.

“We’re trying to hold events in all sections of the township,” Livergood said.

On June 10, the police held a Bike Rodeo at Altamont Fire Company.

The force is planning to hold a future event in William Penn.

“People can’t say we’re not trying,” Supervisor Paul “Pepper” Martin said.

Other township representatives present at the firehouse for the event Wednesday included one of the township’s part-time officers, William A. Moyer. Amato was there with his sons, Sonny, 7, and Anthony, 5.