Wollongong police have used the University of Wollongong’s lively O-week celebrations to forge new ties with students from near and far. Police were out in number on campus on Thursday as part of the state-wide Coffee With a Cop initiative.
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The informal meet-and-greet, held at different locations about four times a year, is intended to improve the relationship between police and the wider community, Detective Superintendant Joe Cassar said. “We shout them a cup of coffee,” he said. “It’s all about getting out there and talking to members of the community.”
“People don’t always have the opportunity to talk to police on a less formal basis.
“It’s usually only as a result of an emergency or when reporting crime, when they’re emotionally affected by whatever has happened to them.”
Supt Cassar said community ties were particularly important in multicultural cities like Wollongong, where people may have come from cultures where police were not well thought of.
“The Illawarra … is a really big multicultural melting pot,” he said. “We’ve got to break bread with them. We’ve got to talk to them about what’s important to them, and get them to understand that police are good and that we’re here to help them.
“Sometimes just having that cup of coffee is all it takes – leave a good impression with them, so when they do have to report crime - it might be in a day, a week, a year, 10 years later – that they do have that ever-lasting impression.”
