LA PLATA, Md. — The La Plata Police Department joined agencies nationwide in recognizing National Coffee With a Cop Day on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, by gathering with residents at the Target store in La Plata for coffee and conversation.
The Coffee With a Cop program — launched in 2011 in Hawthorne, Calif. — was designed to break down barriers between officers and the communities they serve by bringing people together in neutral spaces with no speeches or agendas. Since its first national observance in 2016, Coffee With a Cop has grown to more than 15,000 events in all 50 states and 40 countries, fostering dialogue over everyday concerns such as neighborhood traffic issues or suspicious activity near local businesses.
This week’s La Plata event turned a corner of the store’s café into an informal community hub. Shoppers, Target staff and families stopped in to ask questions, raise local concerns or simply share a cup of coffee with the officers who patrol their neighborhoods.
Chief Matthew J. Norris, who took over as La Plata’s top officer after serving as acting chief since March, greeted attendees. A 16-year veteran of the department, Norris succeeds retired Chief Carl Schinner, who led the department for 12 years, and says he plans to keep the focus on community policing programs. While the department has hosted several of these gatherings in past years, this was its first under Norris’ leadership and part of the nationwide effort to “build relationships, one cup at a time.”
The department is well known for initiatives such as Coffee With a Cop, National Night Out, community block parties, school safety partnerships and seasonal outreach events that bring officers and neighbors together outside of routine patrols.
Read more about Chief Norris’s appointment: Matthew J. Norris Named La Plata’s New Police Chief After 16 Years of Service.
For information on future outreach events, follow the La Plata Police Department on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LaPlataPD.
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