On Saturday, Feb. 10, the Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department held its first ever “Coffee with a Cop” event to allow citizens the opportunity to casually interact with officers and learn more about the department.

Several San Diego residents stopped by the mobile command truck parked in front of the Port Pavilion from 8 a.m. to a little past 10 a.m., to enjoy the free coffee and bagels, and to speak with Harbor Police Officers.

The Harbor Police Department is responsible for police services and marine firefighting for the Port of San Diego, the San Diego International Airport, and the San Diego Bay.

Community Policing Sergeant Victor Banuelos said they had a good turnout and had good discussions with members of the community.

“We had a variety of people that had different questions,” Banuelos said. “We explained to them some of our job functions and I did have some people bring some concerns about the homeless population and we talked about how we are addressing that with outreach.”

Banuelos said that based on the response of their first “Coffee with a Cop” event they might plan on hosting more events in the future.

Lucia Melena and Ramon Ramirez, residents of Lakeside, said they exercise on the weekends in the surrounding areas of the Port of San Diego and they always find events going on so they stopped by to get coffee.

Melena said the “Coffee with a Cop” event was one of the many wonderful surprises they find while exercising along the waterfront.

Around 10 officers were in attendance to interact with community members including Harbor Police Chief Mark Stainbrook.