You’ve heard of “Coffee with a Cop” but what about “Café y Conchas con la Policía”? The Paso Robles Police Department is using a staple pastry and coffee to engage with the Latino community.
“You want to make your parents proud because they've made such a sacrifice for them to come over here and try to give us a better life and education,” said Paso Robles Police Department Detective Elizabeth Place. “We're a product of that.”
Detective Place has been in law enforcement for eight years; three of those have been in Paso Robles. She is using her Mexican-American heritage to connect with the community she serves.
“I'm always trying to make sure that I do my best and I represent, especially, being Hispanic,” Det. Place said. “That's my number one goal because you don't see many Hispanic women in law enforcement.”
Paso Robles Police Officer and School Resource Officer Walter Canizalez grew up dreaming of a career in public service. He started off as a firefighter and turned to law enforcement. He is drawing from his childhood to be a role model for Latinos in Paso Robles.
“I am first generation American,” Officer Canizalez said. “My parents immigrated from El Salvador. They immigrated during the eighties when there was a massive civil war going on there, so to them, the United States was a whole new world.”
Officer Canizalez said he understands the struggles of many immigrant families and is trying to pay back after looking up to law enforcement agents growing up.
“The law enforcement community and first responders in general were a huge influence when I was young because they bridged that gap,” Canizalez said.
The Paso Robles Police Department hosted its very first “Café y Conchas con la Policía” on Thursday.
“Same premise — it is coffee with a cop week across the country, so we put our little spin on it,” Officer Canizalez said.
Both Detective Place and Officer Canizalez are trying to build that trust within the Latino community, so people feel comfortable reaching out.
“We took it upon ourselves to kind of start bridging that gap and, you know, taking our events and putting them in Spanish and letting them know the information, and that's key to be able to […] tell people, 'hey, you know what, you can talk to us,'” Place said.
There is a lot of collaboration involved.
“With school districts and private schools, other organizations, churches, really any and all communities that we can speak to,” Canizalez said.
The event took place at Brothers Café 316 in Paso Robles.
“I think that being Latinos and owning our own business, making a dream come true, it's a big thing already and knowing that we are supported by the police officers and like, you know, the community gets together,” said Lorena Manzo, owner of Brother’s Café 316. “I feel like it's already a change, you know, and for other people to open up and to know that we can do this together. ”
For community members like Aurora Gonzalez, representation matters.
“I think it's a lot of the language barrier is they're scared, and so it's nice to see that there's a lot of more Spanish-speaking officers here because back in the day here in Paso, there was just the one officer and now there's plenty of officers,” Gonzalez said. “They speak your language, you know, don't be afraid of them, they're here to help you, and if they don't speak it, they'll find somebody who does. ”
Trust takes time but both Detective Place and Officer Canizalez want to lead with empathy.
“It's just an education piece and awareness piece, and this is humanizing us,” Canizalez said. “We like to have coffee, we like to have pastries, we like to have conversations just like anybody else, so we want to leave those doors open for communication with the community.”
The Paso Robles Police Department has other community events in the works including a Shop with a Cop event later this year.
