'Coffee with a Cop' Helps Build Trust

By Hollie Deese

Dennis Valade brought three carafes of coffee. The Krispy Kreme store donated two dozen doughnuts. And the police provided valuable information on local crime, including recent scams targeting older people.

The “Coffee with a Cop” meeting on a rainy day in February drew 40 people to the doughnut shop on the east side of Chattanooga. The event, which AARP Tennessee helped set up, provided some crime-fighting tips.

Attendees also heard about the AARP Fraud Watch Network and caregiving laws and resources.

Just as important, the meeting helped strengthen ties between the community and the Chattanooga Police Department.

“The police are there when we need them and we really don’t think about them otherwise,” said Valade, 65. “So providing these settings where you just sit down and chat, without driving an agenda or an issue of immediate concern, you are just giving them a great opportunity to build that relationship.”

Valade retired to Pikeville, just outside Chattanooga, three years ago. He was looking for new challenges, he said, and became an AARP Tennessee volunteer.

Valade met with Chattanooga police officers, who had tried Coffee with a Cop before, but attendance was small. Still, the police saw the benefit of partnering with AARP to address the specific needs of older residents.

“We want to empower seniors through education to protect themselves from those who want to defraud them,” said Officer Rob Simmons,  a 14-year veteran of the force who organized the local meeting. “It is also important to speak to the many caregiver laws in our state, as they can be confusing at times.”

Warnings on scams
About 15 officers attended the session, including detectives who spoke about the rise in impostor crime, grandkid scams and threats from scammers pretending to be IRS agents. Beat officers talked about local crime.

Tracy Matthews, community outreach director for AARP Tennessee, said the meetups are a great way to get the latest information on what to look out for locally, like gas pump skimmers and hidden ATM cameras that steal credit card data. The meetings also help build trust between citizens and police.

“I think it’s very important that we open up that dialogue to where our community members feel comfortable, and feel like the police officers are here to protect us, but they’re also here to be our friend, our colleague,” Matthews said.

Depending on the time of year, crime can change dramatically, Simmons said. But what doesn’t change is wanting people to feel they can turn to the police when they aren’t in distress.

“Building trust between our citizens and law enforcement only makes us more effective,” he said.

AARP Tennessee and the Chattanooga Police Department plan on hosting Coffee with a Cop every quarter in different parts of the city. Matthews said plans are in the works to expand it across Tennessee.

Simmons said he hoped that “meetings like this will spread to other AARP groups through the rest of the country and be just as effective nationwide.”

Interested in setting up a Coffee with a Cop? Contact Matthews at tmatthews@aarp.org.

AARP’s Fraud Watch Network ( fraudwatchnetwork.org) has the latest tips on how to avoid scams. Its toll-free help line is 877-908-3360.

Hollie Deese is a writer living in Gallatin, Tenn.