Coffee with a Cop allows officers to mingle, assist public

Coffee with a Cop allows officers to mingle, assist public

(Salt Lake City Police Department)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Three police officers sat at a small round table while others chatted with people in booths in the crowded McDonald’s. All the while, the aroma of black coffee wafted through the air. Welcome to Coffee with a Cop.

Americans were able to celebrate National Coffee Day on Monday by attending Coffee with a Cop at McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S. Police agencies across Utah participated in the event, pairing free coffee with questions for an officer. The concept is simple — show up for free coffee and ask an officer any question.

The Salt Lake City Police Department has participated in the Coffee with a Cop program since January 2013, according to public relations director Lara Jones. Several coffee houses across Salt Lake City are sponsors of Coffee With a Cop, and each month, officers rotate between locations to give the public a chance to mingle and get help in an informal setting.

“It’s not about deep conversations,” Jones said. “It’s about positive interactions. We want to go where the people are.”

Salt Lake police detective Greg Wilking said many people take the opportunity to report crimes or suspicious activity in their neighborhood when they talk to officers at Coffee with a Cop.

“A lot of times, unless we are hearing from people, we don’t know what’s going on,” Wilking said. “The residents are the eyes and ears of the neighborhood. We’ve got to partner with the community in order to solve a lot of these problems. (People) need to continue to call. If you have a problem in our area and you are vocal about it, that’s where we are going to focus our attention.”

Tips for reporting crime:
  • Call Police: If it's an emergency or a crime in progress, call 911. In a non-emergency, call 801-799-3000.
  • Take Notes: Write down details about a subject's appearance, car or other identifying characteristics and share it with police.
  • Text-a-tip: Tipsters may remain anonymous. Send a text to 274637. Start the message with the keyword, TIPSLCPD.

Residents have reported bike thefts, suspected drug activity near storage units and have also asked advice for what to do if a neighbor doesn’t leash aggressive dogs, Wilking said. Coffee with a Cop gives people the opportunity to not only report crime, but also to talk about things they don’t feel are important enough to call 911 for, but that they’re worried about.

Wilking said people also get the opportunity to interact with officers one-on-one and have casual conversations in an informal environment.

“They interact with us and they find out we are humans and we are just like anybody else,” Wilking said. “The interaction can be as simple as talking about last night’s football game. It’s interaction that people don’t normally get with a police officer.”

Coffee with a Cop typically occurs on the fourth Thursday of each month and people who don't drink coffee can substitute with hot chocolate, Jones said. For more information about where the next event will be held, visit the Salt Lake City Police Department website.

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Faith Heaton Jolley

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