In attendance at the Coffee with a Cop initiative were members of Cowra local police and Highway Patrol, members of the Canobolas Local Area Command (LAC) management team and Canobolas commander Superintendent Shane Cribb.

The Coffee with a Cop initiative aims to make officers more accessible to the public and enable them to gain access to information they would otherwise not know about.

Cowra Police Inspector Adam Beard said the day was a success.

“It is an ideal way of breaking the ice and being more approachable to the community,” he said.

“We attracted a number of community members who brought us a number of the community issues that we discussed, including traffic issues and complaints, safety issues and current police staffing levels.

“It was a successful day and we look forward to further participation in future events and wish to remain approachable, however we still encourage the community to contact the police at any time if they are having issues,” he said.

The idea for the initiative stemmed from the United States Department of Justice which came up with the idea of engagement with communities.

In Australia the initiative was first undertaken by Fairfield LAC who received positive feedback from officers who said members of the public felt more comfortable reporting issues following the initiative.