For Immediate Release

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Contact: John Guilfoil
Office: 978-971-8101
Email: [email protected]

West Newbury Police Department to Host Coffee With the Chief Event This Weekend

WEST NEWBURY — The West Newbury Police Department is pleased to announce that Chief Art Reed is holding a Coffee With the Chief event this weekend and invites community members to attend.

WHEN:

Saturday, April 8 from 8-10 a.m.

WHERE:

Town Office Building, 381 Main St. (1910 Building)

WHAT:

Modeled after Coffee With a Cop, the West Newbury Police Department invites residents to join Chief Reed for coffee and conversation this weekend.

At the event, Chief Reed would like to focus on discussing the possibility of bringing a school resource officer (SRO) to the Pentucket Middle and High Schools, and answer any questions that residents may have.

An SRO is a specially trained police officer who works primarily in schools. In West Newbury, the SRO would be deployed in a “hybrid” fashion as both an SRO in the school and a West Newbury police officer.

The role of an SRO is to establish relationships with students that allow police to identify and resolve potential issues before they become law enforcement problems. This has proven to be an effective approach in other communities for improving the overall civic behavior of student populations.

“This meeting will act as a sounding board so that I can speak directly with residents about why we need a school resource officer in our community,” Chief Reed said. “I hope that residents will come out for this event and get involved in the conversation.”

For the first year, funding for the SRO position will come from both the Pentucket Regional School District budget and the West Newbury town budget.

About Coffee with a Cop:

Coffee With a Cop began in Hawthorne, Calif. in 2011 as a result of police officers brainstorming ways to better interact with their community. They developed a simple plan to break down the barriers that have been built between police officers and citizens — have a cup of coffee, discuss what’s on your mind, ask questions and make suggestions that could better the community.

Since its creation, Coffee With a Cop events have been held in more than 2,000 communities in 49 states. It is regarded as one of the most successful community oriented policing programs in the United States.

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