HAPPENING THIS MORNING: Local police departments participate in National Coffee with a Cop Day

SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Today is National Coffee with a Cop Day and departments across the News13 area are participating.

Lieutenant Gilbert Williams, in Surfside Beach, says open forums like this can help people in the community voice their concerns or opinions in a casual way. There is no question and answer session, speeches or schedule for the Coffee with a Cop event.

“Some community needs may pop up that that person may not have felt it was necessary to call the police over, but we found it was important to do our job,” Lt. Williams said. “So, by them expressing their needs and what they want from their police department and what they’ve seen that they do like helps us better perform our jobs.”

Departments across the country host Coffee with a Cop events throughout the year. However, officers hope bringing national attention to it will mean more people attend.

“For someone to be able to approach a police officers and not feel like they are bothering them or interrupting their normal work just to have that forum where they can express any kind of need they have, it’s super important,” Lt. Williams said.

Participating departments in our area are below:

Horry County Police Department: