Hayley Tood, son Vincent, and his grandma Joanne Todd speak with Constable Jack Driver at the Coffee with a Cop event.
The new Western Waikato area commander for the Police, Inspector Andrew Mortimore, was on hand along with other Waikato Police staff at the Coffee with a Cop event in Cambridge last week, held at the Lilly Pad café.
Lucas Williams, pictured with his grandfather Hadyn Williams, loved checking out a police car.
It was the first time the six-weekly regional event came to Cambridge, and a chance for locals to chat with Police about whatever was on their minds.
“It’s an informal opportunity for the community to have a chat with cops over coffee, no ulterior motive, just come and have a chat,” said constable Jack Driver, manager of the Waikato Police Facebook page.
“There’s definitely some really positive stuff going on in the community at the moment,” Inspector Mortimore said, after confirming that Police had apprehended the recent Stirling Sports burglar the night before, using forensic evidence to secure a home arrest warrant at the out-of-towner’s address. “Staff are working really hard to follow up lines of enquiry and follow up these offenses.
“We’re very focused on the community in terms of what’s going on, obviously we’re preparing ourselves for when school ends,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of young people in the community… in terms of what they’re going to do to keep themselves entertained, we’re very aware of that and very focused on how we prepare for that.”
Christmas and coming summer functions were also on the Police ‘radar’.
“People need to be safe and look out for their friends, be considerate of other people, and put measures in place around if they’re going to have alcohol, having alternative ways to get home, a sober driver, that’s the main message at the moment,” Inspector Mortimore said.
The next Coffee with a Cop event will take place in early January.
Constable Nika Perry speaks to a local at the Coffee with a Cop Cambridge event.
