Virtually every Law Enforcement agency in this country has some form of a community outreach program. Over the past 20 years Law Enforcement has been making tremendous strides in reducing the divide between Officers and the public. The reduction in crime in an area is truly a team effort by both the serving agency and the public.
Law Enforcement agencies have various events throughout the year which gives the public an opportunity to meet and greet as well as ask questions of those that serve their community.
You have a right to question the reason Law Enforcement does what it does and the manner in which they do it. As a retired Police Officer I found that more often than not the public simply did not understand the "why" behind many of our policies and procedures. For Law Enforcement Officers, issues of Officer safety are paramount in our thoughts and actions which is difficult for the public to understand. Remember, Officers are constantly faced with life or death situations and decisions at work, are you? This makes a person think and react differently.
As a former Officer I enjoyed participating in events where we had interaction with the public which wasn't due to a call or traffic stop. I like to think that just in taking the time to speak with folks about their concerns or questions I was able to bridge a gap. I hope I was able to show there is truly just a person doing a job behind the uniform.
If you follow your local Department on Social Media you have probably seen invitations to these type of events. National Night Out, Coffee with a Cop, Open Houses and Civilian Police Academies just to name a few. These are invitations. This is your local agency reaching out and asking for you to join them to help make the community a safer place.
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