WS Chronicle

Photo by Tevin Stinson

BY TEVIN STINSON 

THE CHRONICLE 

Officers with the Winston-Salem Police Department (WSPD) sat down with members of the East Winston community earlier this week when they hosted their second “Coffee with a Cop” event at the McDonald’s on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

More than a dozen officers attended the event, designed to bring police officers and community members together on Tuesday, May 16, including Chief Barry Rountree, who will retire later this year.

“It’s always good when the officers can come out and meet with citizens in a setting like this,” said Rountree. “This give citizens an opportunity to ask questions, have coffee and a pastry and just enjoy themselves.”

Rountree said while several community members had a list of questions for officers, several people in attendance just wanted to have general conversations with officers. One of those residents was Marva Reid. Reid who serves as president of the East/Northeast Winston Neighborhood Association, said although she has been working with the WSPD since 2005, it feels good to see others getting out and connecting with police.

“This is awesome,” said Reid. “They used to have other programs like ‘Chat with the Chief,’ but this environment is a lot more welcoming.”

While “Coffee with a Cop” is still new to the city, Chief Rountree said, they have already planned to host the event in other communities in the near future. The first event was held in March at the Whole Foods location on Miller Street.

“We had a really good turnout at the first ‘Coffee with a Cop’ and I knew we would do the same here in this community,” he said. “There are a lot of good people in this community who want to interact with police officers.”