The Marshalltown Police Department is excited to announce Coffee with a Cop will be hosted at Tannin, 125 E Main St., on June 24. All community members are invited to attend.

“It’s been a long time since we have been able to safely do community outreach,” Sergeant A.J. Accola said. “I’m personally excited to kickstart Coffee with a Cop and get back some sort of normal, interacting with the community in a relaxed environment.”

The event provides a unique opportunity for community members to ask questions and learn more about the police department’s work in Marshalltown neighborhoods. The goal is to establish new bonds within the community and strengthen relationships already fostered.

“Coffee with a Cop has given me the opportunity to interact with the citizens in a positive way, which is something you don’t always get to do on regular patrol,” Accola said. “Every event we have provides me and other department personnel the chance to meet new people and get to know them and their story. It also provides officers with feedback and information from community members that can help us keep the community safe.”

Coffee with a Cop is an innovative program started by the Hawthorne Police Department in California in 2011 as a response to tensions between the police and the community. The HPD wanted to help break down barriers, so they came up with a simple plan: Officers invited residents to join them for a cup of coffee and a conversation. They called it Coffee with a Cop, and it has been spreading since the first cup was poured. More than 2,000 law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve have participated in this program.

The Coffee with a Cop program has received funding support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) Office, and its growth since 2011 continues at an exponential rate, reaching thousands of agencies. Coffee with a Cop was highlighted in the final report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing as a way to build community trust and confidence.

For additional information, please contact Sergeant AJ Accola at 641.754.5725 or via email at aaccola@marshalltown-ia.gov.