Farmington Police Department connects with community over pop

FARMINGTON. N.M. – A simple drink along with some conversation, can help you get to know someone better. And that is exactly what one New Mexico police department hopes to accomplish.

Around 10 law enforcement officers gathered at Pop Drinks in Farmington, but it wasn’t due to a 911 call.

“Today is Pop with a Cop, it’s a good opportunity to meet with community members, they can come down, check out the business and talk with local law enforcement,” Sergeant with the Farmington Police Department, Jonathan Jensen said. 

Pop and conversations are on the menu. 

“We don’t have any kind of agenda, so you can come talk to our officers about what it’s like to be a police officer, you can talk to us about football, you can talk to us about really anything you want,” Jensen said.

Whether it is small talk, or deep conversations, it’s a chance to find common ground.

“It’s important for people to get to see that one, as law enforcement sometimes people see the badge, they see uniform and it’s easy to see us as not, like a regular person,” Jensen added. “It’s a good opportunity to see that we truly are invested in the community, we are approachable, we are easy to talk to and we’ll talk about whatever people want.”

Because just a simple conversation and some pop has the ability to turn a new leaf. 

“It’s a neutral place it’s not an intimidating environment or anything it’s just neutral, public. So maybe if someone’s got reservations about talking with the police, maybe they had a bad interaction in the past, this could be the first step into overcoming that and kind of breaking down some of those barriers,” Jensen said.

The Farmington Police Department holds events like this four times a year, the next one will be in February.