Due to numerous cases of police brutality across the United States, the honor of the officer has been somewhat tarnished over the past few decades. Rather than being viewed as the universal enforcer of justice, the policeman has taken the role of the bully in the eyes of the public. The Claremont Police Department wanted to challenge this perspective. On October 8, the department held the “Cone with a Cop” event at the Claremont Art Museum from 10 AM to 2 PM to showcase the humanity of the policemen who serve in Claremont.
“Cone with a Cop” is actually part of a wider movement known as “Coffee with a Cop”, in which people are welcomed to sit down and enjoy some coffee with local officers. Due to the informal nature of the event, people had conversations with topics ranging from the construction of new police buildings to personal exercise routines over ice cream cones.
Police Captain Aaron Fate believes that this relaxed form of interaction is essential to building trust between law enforcement.
“[Cone With a Cop] creates an environment where we hope to be more approachable to the public. A lot of times, the things that we do are enforcement activities in which we see people at their worst; they are in some kind of crisis,” Fate said. “We want to have the opportunity to talk to people in a peaceful environment over a cup of coffee, or in this case, ice cream where they can just come up to chat with us.”
The CPD had also taken the opportunity to showcase their Pink Patch Project to raise awareness in the fight against cancer. Such patches were on sale at the function, so that the proceeds may be donated to organizations specializing in the treatment, research, and education of all types cancer.
While this single event may not eliminate the widespread prejudice against the police, it had demonstrated that police officers are human beings and no different from the average well-to-do citizen. They have interests, ambitions, and hobbies just like any other person. While there may have existed a large number of cops who had abused their responsibilities, the men and women who defend Claremont have demonstrated that they have empathy for the common citizen, and they will do their best to express such. In order to further convey this type of attitude, the CPD plans to host many similar events in the future.