Winchester PD meets with residents at Coffee With A Cop event

By Shaw Israel Izikson, Winsted Phoenix
Original article HERE

Members of the Winchester Police Department met with residents at Hunny Bunns Cafè & Bakery on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at its first-ever Coffee With A Cop event.

It was a casual and loose meeting where attendees spoke to police officers about various topics.

“We’re holding this to break the barriers between officers and civilians,” event organizer Officer Joshua Blass said. “Usually when we meet with the public there’s the barrier of us being in a cruiser or being on a call, plus having the police radio on. What this event does is it allows us to talk to the people we serve. We want to talk to them about the problems they feel that need to be addressed.”

Blass said that the event is a way for the public to get to know the officers that serve on the force.

“The conversations are all open-ended,” Blass said. “When you’re always in a cruiser responding to calls, I feel that it’s important to talk to people one on one. Winsted is a small community and I have been around here for a long time. It’s a good, family-oriented community. The department itself has a great group of guys who all work well with each other. We’re all very close-knit and we all have each other’s back.”

Blass added that the department may hold a second Coffee With A Cop event in the next few months.