‘Coffee With A Cop’ began in Hawthorn, Calif. and has since grown to over 500 Police Departments across the country inviting their respective communities to enjoy a cup of coffee and chitchat with community police officers.

The Southern Ute Police Department and other officers and rangers from the Southern Ute Justice and Regulatory Department met with community members for a cup of joe at the Willows Bistro in the Sky Ute Casino Resort on Friday, Oct. 7.

“This is a way to get to know the community better,” Don Folsom SUPD Community Resource Officer said. “It’s also a way for officers to talk with community members about what’s going on in their own neighborhoods.”

Officers are often seeing people in the worst times in their lives, Folsom said. Police officers have many jobs to do, and sometimes they are sometimes bringer of bad news. ‘Coffee with a Cop’ gives the community and the officers a chance to communicate in an informal setting.

We are here, “to serve and protect,” said Folsom, as displayed on many Police Department vehicles.

Going forward the Southern Ute Police Department plans on hosting more of these community outreach activities. SUPD Chief Raymond Coriz said he has officially challenged the Los Pinos Fire Department in Ignacio to a ‘Guns versus Hoses’ basketball game.

“We will be raising money for the Boys and Girls Club, it will be fun, some of the guys said, ‘they haven’t played in years.’”

The date of the game hasn’t been decided yet, but Coriz hopes it’ll be just another way for the community to interact with the officers and firefighters.