Police across Middle Georgia hosting Coffee with a Cop Friday

Several law enforcement agencies in the midstate are inviting residents to sip coffee and talk with officers Friday morning during the first-ever National Coffee with a Cop Day.

The Perry Police Department will meet with residents for coffee downtown at the Coffee Cup on Carroll Street from 8-10 a.m.

While officers for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Forsyth Police Department meet with residents at Burger King on North Lee Street in Forsyth, Milledgeville police officers also will be meeting with residents at the Chick-fil-A on North Columbia Street from 7-9 a.m.

In partnership with the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), the national trust-building movement grew from California’s Hawthorne Police Department.

Tensions were high between Hawthorne police and the community in 2011.

The department had been brainstorming how its officers could break through barriers and improve interactions with residents, according to the department’s website.

What came out of the session was a simple plan to start dialogue: coffee.

Since then, Coffee with a Cop events have taken place all over the country, including Middle Georgia, and internationally.

Hawthorne Police Department’s website says the event it created “opens the door for interactions outside of the crisis situations that typically bring law enforcement officers and community members together.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Police across Middle Georgia hosting Coffee with a Cop Friday."