OAKLAND — Police Capt. Rick Stubbert said he thinks it’s always important to maintain an “open dialogue” between police officers and the public.
That’s part of the reason the town’s Police Department is taking part in national Coffee with a Cop Day on Friday.
The newly built police station will open at 7 a.m. with plenty of coffee and doughnuts in the Cascade Room, where officers will be available to talk with the public. There will be an open house ceremony for the new station at 9 a.m. followed by tours of the new building throughout the rest of the day.
The officers had wanted to have an open house for the new department and the timing happened to coincide with the first national Coffee with a Cop Day. The department held a similar event about a year before, Stubbert said, and thought it was time to do it again.
People can bring their questions and concerns to Friday’s event, Stubbert said, adding that in the end, “we have a greater understanding of what they need and what we do.” The public is encouraged to come to discuss anything in this informal setting.
“It can be everything, from ‘People are speeding on my street’ to ‘So-and-so’s selling drugs’ to talking about the Red Sox,” he said. “I prefer to talk about the Red Sox.”
The Coffee with a Cop program was started by the Hawthorne Police Department in California in 2011 “in response to tensions between the police and the community,” according to its website. The Hawthorne Police Department, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, partnered to hold the first national Coffee with a Cop Day this year.
Despite recent tension between the police and the public nationally, the Oakland Police Department continues to have a “great relationship” with its residents, Stubbert said.
He said he thinks police always should try to keep the door open, not just during tense times.
“We’d love to talk with anybody who’d like to come,” he said.
Madeline St. Amour — 861-9239
mstamour@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @madelinestamour
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