Grand Junction hosted another session of "Coffee With a Cop" last Saturday, and like always, it proved to be an invaluable community resource. Here's an example why you should love "Coffee With a Cop."

What exactly is "Coffee With a Cop"? It is just as it sounds. From time to time, officers with the Grand Junction Police Department and the Mesa County Sheriff's Office meet with the public at a local coffee shop. This event typically happens in the earlier hours on a Saturday morning. No agendas, no speeches, just questions and answers, along with some friendly conversation, all over a cup of coffee.

What was so special about the Saturday, January 21 session of this event? With this particular meeting, I became aware of important information that never would have made its way to me otherwise.

For some particular reason, about ten years ago, I willingly chose to pursue a career as a landlord. For this most part, this can be attributed to brain damage. In any event, I'm now the proud owner, or should I say saw mortgage holder, of a handful of income properties.

Saturday morning's visit with the GJPD involved a discussion of neighborhoods and various issues. This is the awesome thing about Coffee With a Cop; you can discuss issues that don't necessarily warrant a call to the police.

Unfortunately, during the course of our question and answer session, it was learned that one of the problem houses in the downtown area was, in fact, one of my properties. I was unaware of this for a few reasons:

  • I had not been contacted by the tenant
  • Police did not need to contact me (the owner) due to the fact no charges were filed
  • The issues at the house were of a domestic nature, not a matter of "public disturbance"

Had it not been for "Coffee With a Cop" it is entirely possible this information would have never come my way. For the most part, there is nothing to be done on my part, but at least I'm now aware of the problem.

Last Saturday's "Coffee With a Cop" session was helpful, informative, and despite my new ulcer, fun. To top it off, it was done all over a really good cup of coffee. Kudos to you, McDonald's, and to you, too, Grand Junction Police Department.

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