CENTRALIA — Centralia Police will host its first-ever Coffee with a Cop event next week at the Rail Coffee Room.

The event will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, December 17, for those interested in having coffee with Police Chief Greg Dodson and a few CPD officers.

Dodson says that for years he’s heard people make the comment that they used to know all the police officers and now they don’t.

Dodson says he wants Coffee with a Cop to be a step in changing that as well as a chance for his officers to interact with the community they serve.

The idea of Coffee with a Cop, he says, is to break down the barriers between police officers and the citizens they serve, and that taking time to meet at a neutral, comfortable location provides the opportunity for real conversations about issues that matter.