TYRONE/BLAIR COUNTY, Pa — ‘Coffee with a Cop’ took place yesterday morning at The Brew in Tyrone, where cops and community got to mingle on good terms.
With tensions between police and people at an all-time high, officers at the Tyrone Borough Police Department wanted to work to get to know those they serve on a personal level.
Officer Austin Miller said it feels good to take a load off and get to talk to the people he protects.
"People ask you questions, and they get to realize that, you know, you’re not what you do, even though that’s a big part of our lives," he said. "At the end of the day, we have families, you know.”
Officer Miller says that a lot of the time, the environment police and community interact isn’t exactly a social setting.
“Most of the time people see us at like the worst parts of their lives. Obviously, that's not a point where they want to come up and talk to us, they want to, you know, get that situation, over-with," miller said. "This gives us the opportunity to, you know, talk to people and really get to know them, they get to ask us questions and really build that relationship us and the community.”
Open dialogue was a huge part of yesterday’s event, and Officer Miller says he was happy to have a chance to answer questions and take feedback.
“it feels great to see people come in and asking lots of questions, wanting to know more about our jobs, giving us feedback and also, seeing some of the stuff that we deal with and some of the, you know, things that make out job a little bit more challenging," he said. "But it's great to be able to, you know, talk to people outside of work, and really just connect on a different level.”
Tyrone Borough PD will have two similar events coming up in May and in June as well.
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