Coffee With A Cop Event Takes Place Saturday In Austin

AUSTIN, TX —The Austin Police Department will host its latest Coffee with a Cop event this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Starbucks on 1700 W Parmer Ln.

Though run by the local department, Coffee with a Cop is a national nonprofit that, according to its website, is on a mission to improve trust and build relationships - one cup of coffee at a time.

The organization Coffee with a Cop was started in Hawthorne, CA in 2011 when officers from that city's police department were looking for ways to interact more successfully with the citizens they served each day. The program allows citizens and officers to interact outside of crisis situations.

According to the website, Coffee with a Cop events are now held in all 50 states, and the program has expanded to Canada, Europe, Australia and Latin America. For the last five years, Coffee with a Cop Day has been held on the first Wednesday in October as part of National Community Policing Week.

The Austin Police Department hosted a Coffee with a Cop event earlier this month, May 5, at the Starbucks at 1801 E 51st St. Other local communities, like Cedar Park, which hosted its own Coffee with a Cop event earlier this spring, and Pflugerville also have participated in the program. The latter even hosted its first Café con la Policia event for Spanish speaking residents.

Earlier this spring, Lt. Scott Megason of the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department told the Texarkana Gazette that the Coffee with a Cop program in that area was about building partnerships.

"We are here to build relations, make connections," Megason said. "In fact, such efforts are key to us being able to do our job. Our agency utilizes community policing. We get out of the cars, talk to the people, play with the kids. It is about humanizing the badge. This is all to bring the community together. We need to work together, let each other know we are here for each other. This involves everyone: the police, other local civic organizations and our local businesses."