An Arlington McDonald's partnered with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Wednesday morning for the department’s inaugural Coffee With A Cop event.
JSO Lieutenant Mike Beckmann organized the informal coffee klatch.
“Coffee with a Cop is a national program,” he says. “It’s just a chance for people to come out, meet the officers that work in their area. There’s no speeches, no agenda. It’s just a chance for us to listen to y’all.”
One of the people who came to the coffee meet-up was 8-year-old Kierra Green, who says she always thought police officers were scary. Now she knows they’re not.
“Like, if there’s anything wrong I can tell my mom and she can call the police, and I don’t have to be afraid,” she says.
The sheriff's office plans to hold Coffee With A Cop events in all six of the city’s police zones this year.
The program started nearly five years ago in Hawthorne, California, as a way to strengthen the bonds between police and the community they serve.
