JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Monthly dialogue between Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Family Housing residents and 902nd Security Forces Squadron members is having a positive impact in the community, leading to a variety of safety improvements, including additional safeguards for children who walk to and from school every day.
The conversations are the focus of an initiative launched last April at the Randolph Family Housing Community Center on New B Street East that continues the first Friday of each month at 9 a.m.
“The ‘Coffee with a Cop’ initiative was created to start dialogue on topics and trends to provide the appropriate law enforcement support to combat vandalism, speeding, larceny and other problems,” said Audra Froom, Randolph Family Housing community director. “The measures that have been taken so far have been very effective in the neighborhood.”
Those measures include the repainting of crosswalks used by children who walk to and from Randolph Elementary School, additional signage at the crosswalks, increased patrols in school zones during school rush hours and strategic placement of patrol cars in areas where speeding is a concern.
Froom said she started the initiative at JBSA-Randolph after seeing the success of a similar program she implemented at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, when she served as Maxwell Family Housing community manager.
“It’s an informal meeting that allows residents to bring their concerns and ideas to the security forces commander and other squadron members,” she said.
In addition to vandalism, speeding and larceny, topics addressed during Coffee with a Cop have included personal security, law enforcement operations, gate closures and improvements, Halloween safety, crosswalks, volunteer crossing guards, what the community can expect during basewide exercises, the notification process in community emergency situations and how to properly navigate Washington Circle.
Parking is also an issue for residents, especially those who live on the west side of Main Circle. In response to concerns that their parking spaces are being taken by non-residents on weekdays, work has begun to restripe those spaces and repaint them with resident occupant logos.
Residents’ involvement at the monthly sessions has inspired a security forces initiative.
“The program shows that residents want to take an active part in making the community safer,” said Lt. Col. Dennis Trutwin, 902nd SFS commander and a frequent participant at Coffee with a Cop. “This has led to the squadron creating the Civilian Police Academy. The academy is intended to educate and train residents on how to take an active role in the community and become familiar with security forces operations.”
One of the reasons Coffee with a Cop is so successful is that housing residents’ concerns are also being heard by JBSA-Randolph’s Traffic Safety Coordination Group, which consists of representatives from the 502nd Air Base Wing, 502nd Security Forces Group, 902nd Civil Engineer Squadron, 902nd SFS and mission partners, Froom said.
“That’s another benefit,” she said. “Security forces members take whatever they hear at our forum back to the Traffic Safety Coordination Group.”
Perhaps the greatest benefit of Coffee with a Cop is strengthening the relationship and trust between security forces and the community, Trutwin said.
“Residents have shared information and concerns and given us the opportunity to take proactive measures to address those concerns,” he said. “This instills a mutual trust between the community and security forces.”