MOUNT PLEASANT — A police department that prides itself on community policing invited dozens of people to join them Wednesday morning for coffee while also addressing concerns.
Penny Hairapetian, who has lived in the village for 30 years, stopped by the Coffee with a Cop event hosted by the Mount Pleasant Police Department at the McDonald's on Washington Avenue. She said a free cup of joe is nice, but she also has some concerns.
“The driving. (It's) terrible. They drive crazy out there,” Hairapetian said.
Road safety isn’t something the department takes lightly. So far this year, the Mount Pleasant Police Department has responded to 368 traffic crashes. Of those 368 crashes, 13 of them happened at State Highway 20 and State Highway 31 — one of the busiest intersections in the area.
“We have different methods that we can do to try to prevent this," Police Chief Matthew Soens said. "We have speed trailers, we have extra attention our officers can get out there and run radar, but a lot of times what people want is just some face-to-face contact."
The one-on-one face time with the chief and other officers is exactly what inspired Ron Reading to show up.
“I’m glad they do this," said Reading. "It brings the people together and gives us an (idea) of what’s going on. They should do this more often really."
