Andover PD Hosting Coffee With A Cop On Thursday

ANDOVER, MA — The Andover Police Department will be hosting Coffee with a Cop this week, giving residents a chance to engage with local officers.

The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday at Caffé Nero Andover, located at 77 Main St.

Lt. Edward Guy, the APD's public information officer, said the department has hosted similar events in the past, and that three to five officers typically attend, including the officer who covers the area where the event is held. Additional officers sometimes show up during the event.

The APD said the event is meant to be informal and that the officers will not have any agenda or deliver any speeches.

"It will be more free form," Guy told Patch. "It's a chance to engage with an officer in good conversation. We want people to understand that we are part of the community and we want to build positive relationships with the community."

Guy continued: "We want it to be an open dialogue, with us finding out what kinds of issues we can address, or just having a casual conversation about the world in general. It's a chance for officers and citizens to meet when it's not crisis-related. We can talk about the day's events, or world events."

Guy said the department has hosted previous engagement events at different coffee shops. Some have been held on weekends in order to allow people who work during the week to attend. The APD also has sent officers to the Robb Center in order to interact with local seniors.

While the vibe is casual, Guy said residents do sometimes arrive at events with problems they hope the APD can solve.

"After previous events, we've sent out officers if there were speeders in someone's neighborhood. Or, if there had been a confrontation with a neighbor, we'll send an officer to help get it resolved," Guy said.

Though Coffee with a Cop events are designed to foster positive interaction between residents and police, there are plenty of other events throughout the year that serve a similar purpose.

"We live in such a great community and there are so many events," Guy said. "At each event, we try to have some officers there, at each road race or walk, at Andover Days, we have officers from our department and representatives from the fire department.

"There are so many opportunities for the police and fire to engage with people in conversations that are positive, to build relationships with people in the Andover community."