First Monthly Coffee With A Cop

If you consider yourself a concerned citizen and would like the opportunity to engage face-to-face with a law enforcement official in the Village of Milan, then mark your calendar for the first Wednesday of every month for Coffee With A Cop. The first meeting happened on January 4 at the Milan Parks and Rec building located at 407 Airport Road. Chief Ustupski, Sergeant Joe Galindo and Sgt. Carlos Vallejos were in attendance along with Milan Fire Chief Daniel Urioste and Animal Care Officer Gabe Molina. Chaplain Thatcher of the Milan Police Department was also in attendance.

Coffee With A Cop is an opportunity for Milan residents to bring their concerns to the table and get questions answered immediately by law enforcement professionals who know and care about the Village. At the first meeting a resident told officers about a challenging problem she was having with a local man. She also shared her desire for the Village to create some type of art space for people as a way to heal. The discussion moved from concerns the police have about the amount of semi-truck drivers who park in non-designated parking areas to the need for one or two police service aides. These police support personnel are armed with a taser and baton but no service weapon. They are tasked with writing all the non-traffic citations and enforcing municipal codes.

The beauty of Coffee With A Cop is that the conversation is free form and open to whatever people bring up. When the discussion moved to the term “removal of person,” it was explained that Love’s Travel Stop often calls for help in getting a person off the premises, Sgt. Galindo said, “There’s no place to house people. We no longer have a protective custody spot for folks.” The talk moved from a lack of safe holding spaces for people who get dumped at Love’s as Sgt. Vallejos described. Chief Usupski said, “The plan is to create a response team to deal with mental health issues.” He said that the department has come a long way from assuming a person is on drugs to really talking with people to understand what exactly they are dealing with. “Is this a narcotic issue or a mental health issue? How are we going to help this person?”

In response to the resident who voiced her concerns for her own safety, Sgt. Galindo stated that the Village of Milan works in concert with the Grants Police Department as well as the county sheriff’s office. “We share video surveillance from crime scenes. We share info about kinds of crimes happening. We network together.”

Describing what Coffee With A Cop is, “Come for clarification. Come if you have solutions. We’re looking for input from the community,” Chief Ustupski said to conclude. Coffee and donuts were served.

Faith Mosley - CC