Coffee With Cops

Egg Harbor City police held "Coffee with Cops" today at Mario's Uptown Grille in EHC.  This was a chance to let residents and officers get to know each other in a relaxed setting.

Atlantic County Prosecutor James P. McClain said the police and the public need to work together. Citizens have to see officers as people, too, he said, while the police have to respond to the specific needs of those they interact with.

Public safety can only be promoted by the forging of proactive partnerships between residents and officers, McClain said.

“If an incident occurs and you’re reacting to it, you’re already losing,” he explained.

Hutton said there should be no tolerance for bad policing, and described the incidents garnering national attention as “heartbreaking.”

Many of those protesting police practices say seemingly isolated incidents of brutality are just now being recognized as disturbingly typical, and Hutton said their concerns are legitimate.

“We’re trying to get a better relationship with the community,” he said. “We have to build trust.”

The public, he said, often only sees police when they’re conducting official business — arresting people or giving out tickets.

The force, he said, can at times “neglect the relationship part of our job.”

Officer Thomas Coney said that communication is critical.

“We’re trying to be open,” he said. The public needs to understand that officers “are normal people with a difficult job.” And members of the police have to “take into consideration everyone’s perspective.”
Entire article at

 http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/hammonton_egg-harbor-city/mugs-in-hand-egg-harbor-city-cops-fight-sentiment-that/article_10057dcc-e705-11e4-ac63-17154ed13aba.html