Leader Staff
Contributed Photo Shawano police visit with customers Wednesday at McDonald’s during Coffee with a Cop. The Police Department is planning two or three such informal gatherings annually.
Shawano police mingled with McDonald’s patrons during the inaugural Coffee with a Cop event Wednesday morning.
The coffee klatch brought police and community members together in an informal, neutral space to discuss community issues, build relationships and drink coffee.
“It takes down the walls, the fear of the police that some people have because the public’s most frequent contact with us is a traffic stop or a police call,” Police Chief Mark Kohl said.
A number of customers stopped in to chat with the officers, including some who initially came through the drive-through, then decided to park and stop in, Kohl said.
Four of the visitors were recent graduates of the department’s Citizen Police Academy.
Many of the regular customers, including a group of retirees who breakfast at McDonald’s daily, also spent some time with the officers.
“They were very receptive, very appreciative,” Kohl said.
A state trooper also joined the event, which Kohl said he appreciated.
“We work with a lot of those agencies,” he said.
The event ran from 8-10 a.m., though things slowed down during the second hour.
“In future, we might just do an hour,” Kohl said.
Kohl said the department is planning two or three Coffee with a Cop events annually at different locations around the city.
No date has been set yet for the next one.
“We hope that community members will feel comfortable to ask questions, bring concerns or simply get to know our officers,” Kohl said. “These interactions are the foundation of community partnerships.”
Coffee with a Cop is a national initiative supported by The United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Similar events are being held across the county, as local police departments strive to make lasting connections with the communities they serve.
The program aims to advance the practice of community policing through improving relationships between police officers and community members one cup of coffee at a time.