‘Coffee with a Cop’ draws dozens

Several dozen residents gathered at the Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers patio on Saturday morning to connect with their local police department at the Maricopa Police Department’s “Coffee with a Cop” event.  

Chief Mark Goodman and four of the department’s officers shared a cup of joe and conversations with the public, answering questions about the value of community policing and what brought them to Maricopa. This is the department’s first such event since 2021.

Lt. Kathy Elliott, a three-year veteran with the department, said such outreach events allow officers to connect with the community in a positive environment. 

“It gives them an opportunity to see us in another light where we’re just talking with them and not responding to a crisis,” Elliott said. “We can kind of just be ourselves. We can talk with them and see where they came from, what they think about the city and what their concerns are.” 

Those concerns varied. Darla Hyche said she showed up to speak with Goodman and other officers about adding resource officers to school campuses in the city. 

“I thought this would be a great opportunity to meet and ask the police chief and others questions about the schools,” Hyche said. “I want to know what they plan on doing in regard to safety.” 

Meanwhile, Gary Allen wanted to inquire about crime statistics with Maricopa’s new apartments.  

“I want to ask (the chief) is there truly a difference between crime in neighborhoods versus the apartment complex,” he said. “If he could speak to that, maybe it might help dispel some of the ideas and taboos people have about apartments.”

Other attendees just wanted to chat with officers. Christina Vaca brought her 5-year-old son, Isaiah, to meet some of Maricopa’s “finest.”

“My son wants to be a police officer, so I thought this would be a good event to come out and introduce ourselves,” Vaca said. “We just wanted to see the faces of the officers in our community and get to know them a little better.” 

Officer Raynald St. Jour reinforced the sentiment, saying outreach events help establish a relationship between the police department and the community.  

“These events get people to come out and ask us questions and share their concerns,” St. Jour said. “It brings the community closer together, so we can build that trust and work with each other.” 

Although dates for future outreach events have not been announced, more are coming, according to Elliott.  

“Our chief is very much into community policing and I’m sure we’ll do more events like this soon,” she said.