Staff and students at St. Clair College will have a chance to build relationships and discuss community issues with leaders of the Windsor Police Service at the "Coffee with A Cop" event on Monday, Nov. 8th.
Coffee with A Cop is an international public relations improvement program founded in California in 2011 which broke through social barriers between police and citizens by sharing a simple cup of coffee. Coffee with A Cop quickly spread outside the United States to Canada and around the world.
From 12pm-2pm on Monday, November 8th in the Upper Level of the Student Life Center, all St. Clair staff and students are encouraged to meet and chat with leaders from the Windsor Police Service to discuss a career in law enforcement and community issues over a cup of coffee and other refreshments.
Ed Maracko retired from the Ontario Provincial Police after a 30-year career, and has been a professor in both the Police Foundations and Protection, Security and Investigations programs at St. Clair College since 2018. Maracko believes bringing back Coffee with A Cop is a great opportunity for St. Clair students who are interested in a career in law enforcement to meet with the WPS Command Staff and WPS recruiters over casual conversation.
"It’s a chance for the police to liaise with other community group members and with the general public in a casual, non-confrontational social atmosphere," Maracko said. "For aspiring police and law enforcement, I can’t stress enough to importance of networking and building a bond with police leaders and recruiters. It’s also a vital opportunity for students in other programs to raise important community concerns that may be unknown to those police leaders"
Maracko said the College has hosted this event before with other area police services from LaSalle, Chatham-Kent, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police taking part. This year, the Windsor Police Service reached out to the College in an effort to liaise with St. Clair students and staff.
"Windsor Police have a great relationship with the community, and I commend them for it," Maracko said. "Sir Robert Peel coined the phrase, 'The Police are the Public, and the Public are the Police'. And it’s true. The police can only do what the public allows them to do. Its very important to have good public relations and for the public to help police the community along with a paid police service."
Coffee with A Cop is a free event hosted in the Upper Level of the Student Life Center at the campus in South Windsor. St. Clair College students and staff are invited to enjoy a hot cup of coffee and other refreshments with leaders of the Windsor Police Service from 12pm-2pm on Monday, November 8th.
- Brett Hedges