Coffee with a Cop gave Azusa citizens the opportunity to voice concerns, asks questions, or just chat in a nonthreatening environment with local police
In observance of National Coffee with a Cop Day, the Azusa Police Department hosted a Coffee with a Cop event on Wednesday evening. The event was held at Starbucks on Citrus Avenue and Alosta Avenue to engage with local community members. The Azusa PD partnered with the Pink Patch Project to sell merchandise that would raise funds for breast cancer awareness and research.
The Azusa PD hosts their Coffee with a Cop Day roughly once per quarter, but Wednesday’s outing featured a familiar face in a new position. Just three weeks prior, Mike Bertelsen — boasting 25 years of experience as an Azusa PD employee — was sworn in as the new Chief of Police of the Azusa PD. The event gave local community members the opportunity to interact with Bertelsen.
“He really wants to address concerns that people in the community have, so it’s great to have this event three weeks after his swearing in. And we have a great turn out,” said Azusa PD Community Service Officer Jennifer Wu.
Bertelsen was greeted warmly by many, including event attendee Andrew Mendez, who knew Bertelsen previously.
“Any time I’ve ever approached him, he’s always been very honest, very open, very straightforward,” said Mendez.
Bertelsen’s move up the ranks was a dream come true for him. Although many of his family members have been in law enforcement, Bertelsen always aspired to be most like his grandfather, who served as a Chicago policeman for more than 30 years.
Bertelsen is an Azusa Pacific alum, earning a master’s degree in organizational leadership in 2005. He worked as a detective at the Azusa PD during the day and took classes at night.
“It greatly prepared me for where I’m at right now,” said Bertelsen.
Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Bertelsen will be especially busy at community events this month. The Coffee with a Cop event on Wednesday was the first of many.
“For the month, we’re wearing pink patches [on our uniforms], we’re selling Pink Patch swag and we’ve got several events in the community where we’re going to be out there trying to raise funds for cancer,” said Bertelsen.
The Azusa PD partnered with the Pink Patches Project to make hats, patches, mugs and other merchandise items that attendees could purchase. All proceeds from the event were donated to the City of Hope, a cancer treatment and research center in Duarte, Calif.
Aside from raising money for a worthy cause, Bertelsen saw the event as a terrific opportunity to hold friendly conversations with the Azusa townspeople that are now under his care.
“It’s really just an opportunity to do community outreach — meet with folks, answer questions, just engage with people in a good way,” Bertselsen said.
Given recent events in the United States, the reputation of police officers has taken a hit. According to Azusa PD Sgt. Erin Coulter, the event exists in part to rectify the tarnished relationship between cops and their community.
“We’ve seen through…social media that there’s a lot of misconceptions or preconceptions of what law enforcement is, what we do, and how we operate,” Coulter said. “This gives us a safe venue for people to feel comfortable approaching us and talking to us and asking questions that maybe they wouldn’t be comfortable asking otherwise.”
Mendez shares Coulter’s sentiments.
“I think we live in a day and age where people aren’t so friendly towards cops, so any opportunity I have to interact with them, I think it’s a good opportunity,” Mendez said.
In the past, Coffee with a Cop has been held in the morning, but the Azusa PD elected to move it to the evening this time to make it more accessible.
“We took a poll on Instagram, and people said do it afterwards in the evening hours so that we can actually stop and have a conversation, which is the ultimate goal,” Wu said.
For Bertelsen, holding the event at Starbucks on Citrus and Alosta was intentional. He gets his morning coffee there every morning. Many considered his first Coffee with a Cop outing as Chief of Police a raving success.