On October 7th, the Yakima Police Department joined 500 other law enforcement agencies to host a “Coffee with a Cop” event. The events were held to celebrate the first ever National Coffee with a Cop day. Coffee with a Cop is an innovative program started by the Hawthorne, California (“HPD”) in 2011 in response to tensions between police and the community. The HPD wanted to break down barriers, so it came up with a simple plan where officers invited community members to join them for a cup of coffee and a conversation. They called it Coffee with a Cop, and it has spread to over 2,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States and around the world, including the Yakima Police Department, which held it’s first Coffee with a Cop in February of 2014. The latest Coffee with a Cop was held at the McDonalds at 5910 Summitview Avenue. The events in Yakima are held every few months to hopefully strengthen the trust between members of the Yakima community and the Yakima Police Department
