Kent State Police Services Hosts Coffee With a Cop

The Kent State University Police Services hosted its first-ever Coffee With a Cop event in the Nest in the Kent Student Center on Sept. 14. Students who attended the event had the opportunity to interact with Kent State police officers in a casual setting and receive free coffee, and the first 200 students who attended also received a free travel mug.

“Our community is important to us, and we want to be part of its everyday life,” says Bill Buckbee, assistant director of public safety and assistant chief of police at Kent State. “Police have a very traditional role in enforcing laws and maintaining safety. We take that seriously, but we also want to help the community, interact with our students, staff, faculty and visitors and engage them on a personal level. We don’t want there to be any barriers between us and our community, and events like this help us to be seen on a person-to-person level.”

The casual atmosphere of the Nest worked well with the overall atmosphere that Kent State Police Services hoped to create at this event.

“We wanted an open area with the large glass windows that people could see the event, but that was also a relaxing atmosphere with tables, chairs and couches for people to sit and chat with us,” says Tricia Knoles, community resource officer for Kent State Police Services.

Kent State Police Services chose to give away coffee because they know how popular it is among students on campus.

“It just seems like everyone drinks coffee,” Buckbee says. “You see people walking around with their mugs, and we’ve created these nice mugs that have our logo on it. My ambition is that walking around campus, you’re going to see a lot of students with their Kent State Police mugs and help spread our message, and they’ll feel comfortable with us and call us when they need us.”

The event was promoted through the Center for Student Involvement’s Twitter account, the digital boards inside and outside Kent Student Center and University Library, and on the table tents in the Hub and Eastway Center.

Overall, Buckbee and Knoles say they believe the event was a success. They handed out more than 100 coffee mugs and had the chance to talk to faculty, staff and students.

“We really had a great time, and I believe everybody who participated in the event had a great time, too,” Knoles says. “Several people asked questions and made comments about how much they appreciated this event. There was quite a bit of laughter and smiles shared by everyone.”

Kent State Police Services plans to hold another Coffee With a Cop, which will be announced in the future. Eventually, Buckbee says he would like to see Kent State Police Services expand its programming to the residence halls and hold a more intimate gathering so students living in the residence halls on campus can get to know the organization better.

Learn more about Kent State University Police Services