Newton Police Want You To Chat With Them: Q&A With An Officer

NEWTON, MA — Often times when you see a police officer around, they're driving in their SUV, giving someone a ticket or working a detail and they can look intimidating to some. In an effort to shake the image of an unapproachable warrior, for a more human guardian protector image, Newton Police are asking folks to come out and chat with them.

"People feel that people see us on a traffic stop and don't want to bother us, so this is an opportunity to approach us as people," said Officer Brett Ferolito.

Ferolito along with Officer Justin Lau are the community outreach officers for the Newton Police Department, and Wednesday they hosted the department's fourth Croissant and Coffee with a Cop event in Chestnut Hill. They've partnered with the Chestnut Hill Mall and Starbucks to use that space for the casual meet and greets. Lau spoke with Patch to describe the event.

Patch: Tell me a bit about the format, what can someone expect?

Lau: We work with Starbucks, they give us samples of coffee and croissants to share, and we try to see if there are any residents who want to chat about anything at all. Anyone can come in if they have any neighborly concerns, or bigger concerns and start a conversation with us.

How did you get the idea?

Obviously, we aren't the ones who pioneered this, but we heard that there are national events like this, we thought: 'why not try it in Newton?' It's a less formal way to approach us, and maybe something a little more comfortable than trying to approach police and have a conversation on the street for some.

Is this going to become a trend here?

We're trying to make it monthly. Right now it's been every few months...

Why is this important?

It's important because it's a way for us the police department to be more approachable. For people to have a conversation with us. It doesn't matter what the topic is. It can be anything from racial inequality or some nuisance on their street, something where they don't feel comfortable calling 911, where they just need a face to approach.

What kind of topics came up today?

One great topic with a person who was wearing a Black Lives Matter pin, we were taking about racial inequality. So we got to share that we're working with FORJ, Families Organizing for Racial Justice and trying to create an event with them.

We also had discussions about the parking ban, neighbor calls, smaller issues, but important ones. It's a huge range of discussions we had today. .. It ranged from what to do about neighbor issues to how to get a touch-a-truck at a kid's birthday party.

How many people showed up?

It's not necessarily a huge event, we get a lot of people who walk in and ask what we're doing here. If I had to guess, I'd say 20-some people coming in to grab their afternoon coffee and some kids (we bring our police badge stickers) stopped to talk with us.

Anything else you want to add?

Our main point of this coffee with a cop is just to have open communication the cops.

In what other ways this year will residents be able to see this approachable side?

Residents can see the approachable side of the police daily as officers do Walk and Talks where they get out of their cars and walk around the populated villages of the city. Event wise we will have a couple events this year such as our National Night Out and Badges and Balls.

Look for another Croissant and Coffee with a Cop in March.

Photo courtesy Newton Police