California Police Chief- Fall 2013 CPCA_2017_Winter Magazine Final | Page 27

velop means for civic engagement. They were allowed to take ownership of them. Build inroads with our residents, youth, business owners, before we meet around negative circumstances. Make community deposits. Chief Fager relates that the products from this un- leashing have been nothing short of amazing. “We have reinvented not only our value basis but our work culture. We ask that professional interactions be as important as the high-speed police work that is easily gravitated to. Our employees have constructed phenomenal programs and partnerships with some of the most influential governmen- tal and corporate entities, with people who influence policy, and people who define philanthropy. Possibly as important as anything, we have rekindled the passion and awareness in many as to what this profession actually provides and means to the community.” The Hawthorne Police Department has paved a new way in developing programs not only benefiting the ‘Haw- thorne’ mission, but ones that agencies across the country are replicating equally. Make that, across the world! The most prominent, ‘Coffee with a Cop’, highlighted in the White House 2015 Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, now has international presence in 16 countries. But it doesn’t end there; here are a few of their highlighted programs: BUILDING TRUST AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THROUGH ‘COFFEE WITH A COP ’ The Hawthorne Police Department launched ‘Coffee with a Cop’ in 2011 after an extensive brainstorming session. They realized that a more personal and engaging way to communicate with the residents of the city was needed. Tired of the traditional “Q & A” Town Hall meeting con- cepts, Chief Fager tasked the newly created ‘Community Affairs Unit’ with coming up with a way to do it, and a way for cops to make it work. Pioneers, Sergeant Chris WINTER 2017 | California Police Chief 27