Coffee with a Cop
TTPD reaches out to community with event
Drinking coffee with a cop is not something everyone would consider a positive experience. Think interrogation rooms on popular crime dramas.
But on Thursday morning, Texarkana, Texas, police officers showed that having coffee with a cop can happen in a positive setting and offer police a chance to get to know members of the community they serve. McDonald’s on New Boston Road sponsored the first local program and will continue to sponsor the program several more times at various places in the city.
Officer Cody Harris took the lead on the project after he heard about jurisdictions in Dallas offering similar events and wanted to see how the program would work here. The Texas side is divided into three sections, and Harris is over the north section of town.
“We wanted to give citizens a way to talk to us that is not very typical and is in a very neutral setting,” Harris said. “We always like to get the chance to talk to kids so they can foster good relationships with the police. Some kids have not had interaction with the police before, so this can help reinforce that we are here as a friend and here to protect, rather than them being intimidated.”
Martha Cowan said her grandson, Mason Shelly, 9, was “in hog heaven,” at the event. Mason said he already knows some of the officers, including Officer Jeff Estes, who is over the south area of town. Estes made Mason’s day by giving him a coin with the emblem of the Texarkana, Texas, police force, which bears the date the department started back in 1873.
“This is kind of what I want to do, too,” Mason said, grinning as he proudly showed off his coin and motioned to the police grouped in the restaurant. “I just like helping people.”
Mason said he has told Estes about bikes being stolen where he lives on Olive Street and said that he now sees Estes in the neighborhood on additional patrol. Cowan said she and her grandson stopped in just planning to stay a few minutes, but Mason said he wanted to stay until the event ended at 10 a.m.
“These are some great, wonderful people, and they don’t make a lot of money doing what they do, and they should,” Cowan said.
Derek Murphy, who is a pastor at a church in Highland Park and lives in a neighborhood on the west end of Rose Hill, said his wife saw the event promoted in the paper and he jumped at the chance to meet some officers face to face.
“I did not have so much of a concern, but I wanted a way to establish a relationship with the police department,” Murphy said. “I wanted a point of contact so I could do something proactive within the community. … It’s important for us to be safe and establish a good relationship with the department.”
Jason Sadowski, owner of Texarkana area McDonald’s, said he was glad to sponsor the events and was willing to do it as long as the police department wanted him to. Sadowski commended Harris for spearheading the project.
“He introduced the program to break down barriers between the community and the police,” Sadowski said. “It’s all about improving and fostering better relationships.”
Officer Karey Parker, who is over the central zone of Texarkana, said he enjoyed Thursday because it helps convey an openness between police and those they protect.
“I always talk to citizens in my area and then discuss with our captain what needs to be done,” Parker said. “Citizens like to see more of a police presence.”
TTPD Sgt. Aaron Brower, who is a public information officer for the department, said having McDonald’s as the backdrop for a community gathering offers citizens a great place to talk to police about things that they want officers to know, but don’t necessarily want to call 911 about.
“The better relationship you have with the community, the better crime solving you can do,” Brower said.