Fairfax County Police Department To Host ‘Coffee with a Cop’ Wednesday

The Fairfax County Police Department is holding a “Coffee with a Cop” on Wednesday in Reston as part of National Coffee with a Cop Day, a program that brings together police officers and community members over coffee.

Local police officers will be available to meet with residents at Starbucks at Reston Station (1908 Reston Metro Plaza) from 8-10:30 a.m.

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Coffee with a Cop launched in Hawthorne, California as the Hawthorne Police Department sought to effectively engaged with local residents. Since its launch in 2011, the program has been hosted nationwide as part of the framework of community policing, a strategy that aims to establish trust between the community and police.

Pfc. Katy Defoe of the Fairfax County Police Department said the program is intended to bring local residents together for a “no-agenda” discussion.

“There’s no purpose. We’re just hanging out and talking to people. It’s a fun event for us. It gets us out of our offices and puts us in a place where people are already,” Defoe said.

The police department is hosting Coffee with a Cop events at seven other locations in the county and is working on plans to organize an Ice Cream with a Cop event in the coming months, she said.