Police chief hosting 'Coffee with a Cop' at local barbershop

Rochester residents are invited to join Police Chief Jim Franklin for coffee and conversation as part of a new series from the police department.

Franklin will spend time Thursday from 8 to 10 a.m. at Barbershop Talk, a cultural center located at 3270 19th Street Northwest, Suite 208.

The goal of “Coffee with a Cop” is to improve trust and build relationships with members of the community. For previous events, Franklin has been joined by City Attorney Jason Loos and Mayor Kim Norton.

During this week’s event, the chief will be accompanied by Community Services Captain Jeff Stilwell and Barbershop Talk founder Rev. Andre Crockett. Any and all are welcomed to join, according to the city.

Barbershop Talk is perhaps best known in the community for its online talk show, hosted by Donavan Bailey and Bud Whitehorn. Past episodes — which you can view on YouTube — have included interviews with Dr. Jeffery Boyd, president of Rochester Community and Technical College, and Dee Sabol, executive director of the Diversity Council.

The Post-Bulletin had a nice write-up earlier this year about how the show and barbershop “are helping create dialog to discuss with the broader community some of the challenges and concerns the African American community in Rochester deal with.” We’ll link to that here.