People Grabbed Coffee With Hopatcong Police

HOPATCONG, NJ — Mini frisbee giveaways and even an impromptu push-up competition, were just a few of the happenings when shoppers at the Hopatcong Marketplace met up recently with local police for coffee and donuts at the second “Coffee With A Cop” event at the market this year.

“I think the program is doing very well at the Hopatcong Marketplace and is well-received,” said Patrolman James Still, the police officer in charge of Community Relations with the department.

The first Coffee With A Cop at the marketplace was on June 12, Still said.

Still said he talked with about 40 people on July 10 who stopped by to the Hopatcong Police Department’s tent for cold brew and Munchkins from Hopatcong’s Dunkin’ location. Bicycle safety, litter violations, fireworks regulations, domestic violence questions, COVID-19 and programs with DASI (Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Intervention Services) and Sussex County C.L.E.A.R. for addiction recovery, were among subjects people asked about.

Still said people stopped to ask career questions, including how to become an officer, what types of calls the department often responds to and questions about the Police Explorer program.

One person surprised Still, he said, by thanking him for administering CPR to them when he was a new officer with the department.

He handed out stickers to children and one of them that stopped by engaged in a push-up competition with Still.

“I made a deal with a young man that day that for every one push up he did, I would do 5,” Still said. “He did eight, I did 40.”

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