“COME ON IN! We’ve got coffee! We’ve got cookies! Sit down and stay awhile!”
Students wandering through Bottom of Lenoir at 2 p.m. Wednesday met a surprise at the door of Room 109: a roomful of cheerful, cookie-munching DPS officers eager to chat.
Sophomore Alissa Alba was just looking for a place to eat her lunch and ended up staying for the full hour-long event, called “Coffee with a Cop.”
“I think that on campus, there’s definitely a bad stigma about police,” she said. “It’s good to talk to them. It’s good to realize they’re human and not some ominous entity.”
The number of students in the room never reached the double digits or exceeded the number of officers, so each student was showered with individual attention.
Sergeant Megan Howard brought Alba a bike registration slip and advised her about software to secure her phone and laptop.
“I’ve learned about something that would be useful,” Alba said. “Or could be useful. If my bike gets stolen.”
Officers asked about students’ majors and career plans, with Public Safety Director Connie Bullock going so far as to recommend a Durham barbecue joint that he said everyone had to try.
He even spent several minutes patiently explaining how to drive there.
“That’s what we want the officers to do: engage students,” Bullock said. “We really care about approachability.”
Junior Filly Jones said she appreciated the chance to interact with DPS officers in a casual setting instead of in a negative or intimidating situation.
“I learned about what they do on a daily basis and how they feel about the reputation they get as the bad guys who ruin the fun,” she said.
Several officers attended the event hoping to combat that stereotype and start a dialogue with students.
“I think it’s important that our young community understands that the police department is here as a resource,” Officer Hector Borges said.
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