#MiddletownRI Police Chief Anthony Pesare launches "Coffee With The Chief," a new low-key way to learn more about the department and its officers. The first session is Friday, March 15 from 8-10 am at the Middletown Senior Center.
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CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com
COFFEE WITH THE CHIEF
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (MARCH 6, 2024) – Anthony M. Pesare knows it can be intimidating to talk to a police officer.
The uniform. The stare. The authority. Even the most “innocent” individual can get nervous and seize up when dealing with an officer, whether in person, behind the wheel or anywhere else.
That’s one of the reasons why the longtime Middletown Police Chief is launching the new “Coffee With The Chief” initiative — to help residents and businesspeople to get know him and other officers as individuals who work together with the Middletown Police Department.
The first “Coffee” session is planned for Friday, March 15 from 8-10 am at the Middletown Senior Center at 650 Green End Ave., with others in the works.
“I’m looking forward it,” Pesare said. “Anytime I can sit down and pull the curtain back a bit and help people understand what we do and why we do it, I feel it’s a good thing for the community. I’ve found there can be some mystery with police work, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”
The idea for “Coffee” came to Pesare one day recently while reading up on what other police departments throughout the country do to help promote community outreach.
He was struck by one in Tennessee sponsored similar informal sessions and made real inroads across the community.
Looking to help celebrate the department and its good work, Pesare said he wanted to share those positive experiences and energy as much as possible.
“Sometimes, I’m amazed at all the good work the men and women in blue do here in Middletown,” Pesare said. “It makes me proud and I think we should celebrate what they do and their efforts everyday to make Middletown an even better place to live, work and play. So much of what they do never gets seen or heard, but I know personally they’re committed to Middletown.”
At the same time, he said it was important to answer questions about the Middletown Police Department — and anything related to law enforcement — in a low key, relaxed environment.
The department has similar low profile, high reward outreach initiatives in place, whether it’s Community Service Officers in Middletown schools, regular fundraisers put on by Middletown Police and other more informal measures.
“If you turn on the news, let’s be honest, a lot of what people see out there day after day isn’t good,” Pesare said. “Sometimes there can be assumptions or misperceptions about what we’re about simply because of the uniform, but I can tell you that we have a truly dedicated, caring group of people who make up our department. This is one way for the community to see that and I can’t wait to sit down and have a cup of coffee to help people see that.”
Document Link: https://www.middletownri.com/DocumentCenter/View/11703/NYCU-Coffee