MEDIA RELEASE

City of Yonkers Police Department

104 South Broadway

Yonkers, New York 10701

Office (914) 377-7200

Fax (914) 377-7213

cityofyonkers.com/live/public-safety/police-department

     The Yonkers Police Department participated in our first ever Coffee with A Cop session this morning at Paxos Grill & Café on Main Street.  Coffee with A Cop was first launched in Hawthorne, California 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.  The basic premise of this program is for local Police Officers to sit down with residents over a cup of coffee and simply get to know one another, with no agenda.

     Officers from the 4th Precinct, the Detective Division, and our Community Affairs team sat down for coffee and conversation with local residents and those who work in the Getty Square area.  The owners of Paxos Grill & Café hosted the event and provided the coffee.  Mayor Mike Spano stopped by for this first session today and commented “Coffee with a Cop is a terrific program that brings police officers and the community they serve together, over a cup of coffee, to discuss issues and get to know each other.  This is great for our residents and I’m thankful to the Yonkers Police Department for their outreach in the local community.”  Photographs from today’s event were posted to the department’s social media platforms and the crowd grew as news of the program spread in the downtown area.  “Coffee with A Cop gives us another opportunity to strengthen our bonds with local community members” commented Yonkers Police Commissioner Charles Gardner, further stating “We regularly engage in numerous community outreach programs and based on today’s success, we will be having more Coffee with A Cop sessions across our city.” 

     Police Officer Laura Mulligan, who participated today and is assigned to our Community Affairs team was asked what the conversations were about today and she commented “I spoke with a resident and she wanted to know what we do in Community Affairs.  After informing her that we regularly give crime prevention presentations to local community groups, we exchanged phone numbers and we agreed to make arrangements for a future presentation in her neighborhood.  Another resident I sat with this morning related that she is having some quality of life issues in her neighborhood, I informed her that I would pass this information on to the local precinct, she seemed happy that I was able to assist her.  It was a great experience today, everyone seemed comfortable and interested in engaging in conversation.” 

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Alert sent on 08/23/2016 at 2:13PM EDT

1st Coffee with A Cop session photo today at Paxos.

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