MANCHESTER, NH – No agenda. No distractions. No barriers. That’s the spirit of Coffee with a Cop, a national initiative to bring police officers and communities together in a casual setting.
Manchester Community Policing division will continue this tradition here in Manchester on June 7 from 9-11 a.m. at the Second Street McDonald’s on the city’s West Side.
Chief Nick Willard was front and center during a Coffee with a Cop event last July at Cafe la Reine, shortly after he was sworn in. You can read more about that event here.
Willard said the initiative underscores the department’s long-held belief that police and community relations are a vital component in building a strong, healthy and connected city.
Manchester’s inaugural Coffee with a Cop came shortly after national attention was focused on police/community tension in Ferguson, Mo. Tuesday’s event follows a month of violence in the city, including a shooting incident that left two Manchester officers wounded, and several other incidences of gun violence, including a homicide last week on Union Street.
Come for the free coffee; stay for a meaningful conversation with members of our police department, who will be there to listen.
History of the program, from coffeewithacop.com:
Coffee with A Cop was launched in Hawthorne, Ca., in 2011, as a result of a brainstorming session. Members of the Hawthorne Police Department were looking for ways to interact more successfully with the citizens they served each day.
Community policing has long been considered a framework for establishing trust between the community and the police. However, over time the character and composition of our nation’s communities have changed due to shifting demographics, more commuters, and the introduction of different communication methods such as websites and social media.
The Hawthorne Police Department hit upon a simple plan to break through the barriers that have been built over the years–a cup of coffee. Check HERE for a more in-depth article.
In less than five years, Coffee with a Cop events have been hosted in more than 3,000 communities, in all 50 states, and is one of the most successful community-oriented policing programs across the country. The program has also expanded to outside the Unites States to Canada, Europe, Australia, and Africa. The key to Coffee with a Cop’s growing success is that it opens the door for interactions outside of the crisis situations that typically bring law enforcement officers and community members together.
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