MONTE VISTA—The year’s first Coffee with a Cop meeting was held on Saturday, Jan. 12 at Mountain View Restaurant in Monte Vista, to a small group of about 10 people.
The first order of business was to address the departure of Monte Vista’s relatively new code enforcement officer, Shane Porter, who left the police force without serving his notice. The police department is currently interviewing for the position.    
Police Chief John Rosecrans recently met with SLV REC to choose where surveillance cameras will be placed. The company is currently laying fiber optics in Monte Vista and offered to install the cameras while they are working, as sort of a bonus to the city.
Rosecrans cited a 15 percent decrease in property crimes and a downturn in traffic stops. But substance abuse arrests are about the same, he said. And the distribution of illegal drugs were up in 2018.
Rosecrans hopes the Law Enforcement Diversion Program, slated to start in March, will help defer substance abuse criminals and others from the potentially vicious cycle of the court and jail systems. In the program, law enforcement will be assisting offenders with issues like housing, transportation, medical appointments, work and even dental and eyeglass needs as a way of keeping them out of the system. “The program is about getting offenders back to being a productive member of society,” Rosecrans said.  
Rio Grande County’s new sheriff, Don McDonald, attended the meeting and spoke about law enforcement throughout the Valley working together more to fight crime and help residents in need. McDonald has also been attending Coffee with a Cop meetings in South Fork and said that the Del Norte police plan on holding Coffee with a Cop meetings.
As a way of encouraging a team effort across law enforcement agencies, McDonald suggested sharing communication channels, so that agencies are getting information more quickly about what is happening within each other’s boundaries. The Spring Fire, he said, was a good example for the need of some type of centralized information hub.
Coffee with a Cop is a California-based non-profit organization founded to facilitate a more informal relationship between law enforcement officers and the citizens they serve. The effort was launched in Hawthorne, Calif. in 2011 when police officers from the Hawthorne Police Department began meeting with local residents to help break down the barriers between cops and citizens. Now held in 50 states, Coffee with a Cop is one of the most successful community-oriented policing programs across the country. The program has also expanded to outside the Unites States to Canada, Europe, Australia, Africa and Latin America.  
The Monte Vista Coffee with a Cop meets the second Saturday of every month from 8 to 10 a.m. at Mountain View Restaurant. It is a great way of staying informed about local crime and helps have a voice about law enforcement issues. For more information, visit the Monte Vista Coffee with a Cop Facebook page.