Spokane police meet with residents in ‘Coffee with a Cop’ at shuttered downtown Starbucks

Looking to bolster community relationships, Spokane police officers on Wednesday met with members of the public in an event called Coffee with a Cop.

This event was held at the Starbucks on Second Avenue and Division Street from noon to 2 p.m., and guests were given free coffee cakes.

“Events like these allow us to interact with the community in a completely nontraditional law enforcement setting,” said Capt. Dave Sinbley of the Spokane Police Department.

This is the third time the Spokane Police Department has hosted Coffee with a Cop, which have all been held in the downtown area.

During the two-hour event, eight Spokane police officers interacted with the 16 individuals who attended.

Toward the end of the event, Mayor Nadine Woodward arrived to support the police officers.

Woodward echoed Sinbley on the importance of using community outreach to fight crime.

“The more we strengthen relationships with citizens, the more civilian involvement we see, which in the end contributes lower crime,” Sinbley said.

The Starbucks where the event was held opened its lobby for the event after being closed for the past three months due to crime in the area.

This comes after five Seattle Starbucks stores closed permanently due to crime concerns.

Although all the Coffee with a Cop events have been held in the downtown area, Sinbley is optimistic about bringing the event to other parts of the city.

“Eventually I am confident that this practice will expand to citywide, but for now we just have been doing it downtown,” he said.

The Spokane Police department has not determined when and where the next Coffee with a Cop event will happen.

Sidiq Moltafet is a member of the Teen Journalism Institute, a paid summer internship program.