Evansville Police Invite the Public to ‘Coffee with a Cop’

No, it's not the punchline to a joke. In an effort to open the lines of communication, the Evansville Police Department is welcoming all residents to join them for coffee — and yes, donuts.

I exchanged e-mail's with Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin on Wednesday and asked him if the idea came from another city or if this was the brainchild of someone within the department. Here's what Chief Bolin had to say,

This idea came from the Chief's Conference I went to in September. I picked up a flier about it from one of the displays and thought it would be something simple we good to here.

So what can Evansville residents expect when they arrive at Donut Bank on the corner of Highway 41 and Lincoln Avenue on Tuesday, January 15th? According to Billy, nothing fancy.

The concept is very simple...we will be at a coffee shop and we go with no agenda. We will just grab a table, have some coffee and give citizens a chance to ask questions, share concerns or just sit and talk about the weather. We realize that there is sometimes a negative stigma attached to the police and we believe the best way to overcome that is to give the citizens a chance to know us better on a personal level.

Although he didn't say specifically, I got the impression that this will be a recurring event throughout the year. If you have time that morning, I encourage you to stop by. I know a few cops on the EPD and they're all great men and women who, as Billy said, can often have a negative stigma attached to them based solely on their job to uphold the law. This is a great idea in my opinion, and a great opportunity to help understand that our local law enforcement only have our best interests in mind.