By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Hot coffee and warm camaraderie were the order of the day as McDonald’s restaurant hosted “Coffee With A Cop,” a chance for local police officers to interact with the community.
Led by Del Rio Police Department Chief Frank Ramirez, about a dozen officers attended the event, which was held at Mendoza-Pacheco Family McDonald’s restaurant, 1701 Veterans Blvd., from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
McDonald’s co-owner Frank Mendoza said the event is one of several ways in which the restaurant’s owners, managers and staff use to say “thank you” to members of the local law enforcement community.
“Every May we thank the police department for everything they
“Coffee With a Cop” at the family’s restaurant on Veterans Boulevard. Mendoza here is
joined by Councilwoman Carmen Gutierrez, Del Rio Police Department Chief Frank
Ramirez and members of the Del Rio Police Department, community members and
Toddler Miss Fourth of July Gabriela Rios. The event was held this morning at
McDonald’s, 1701 Veterans Blvd. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
do and recognize them with a nice letter and ‘Be Our Guest’ cards for a free combo meal, for Law Enforcement Month,” Mendoza said.
“This specific event, ‘Coffee With A Cop,’ was organized to participate in National Coffee With A Cop Day, which we haven’t done before, and we were thinking that we would love to do something here, and we talked to the folks at the police department, and they were so excited about coming, and we’re honored to have them here today,” Mendoza added.
Members of the community who attended the event enjoyed cookies and bottomless cups of McDonald’s McCafé coffee and were able to speak at length with Ramirez and his three senior staff members – Capt. Robert Guzman, Capt. Rick Roman and Capt. Hubert Smith – as well as other officers and civilian staff who attended the event.
Ramirez said he appreciated McDonald’s and the chance the event gives police officers to meet the people they protect and serve in a more informal setting.
“On a personal note, I really enjoy these events and visiting with everybody and talking to members of the community. These are important because they put a face on us. People may see us out on the streets or at their homes, but a lot of times it’s in a negative context, for a negative reason. This is an event where the community can see us as people, as who we really are,” Ramirez said.
Is there something Ramirez would like the public to know about the police department and its officers?
“We understand 100 percent we work for the citizens and that we’re here to make life better. We want to do everything it takes to protect them and to make sure that they can trust us, and that is the number one most important thing. We try to be transparent; we try to put out there what is necessary and make as many calls as possible to help them,” the chief added. Manuel Pacheco, co-owner and operator of McDonald’s, also attended the event.
“We wanted to do this “Coffee With A Cop” event because we wanted our community to see exactly who our officers are. They picked a very difficult career, very demanding, very stressful, and what we want everyone to know is that these officers are members of our community.
“Although they might not be family, they protect us like we’re family. They’re there when we need them, in the most difficult times, and this is just a way for the community to see them in a different perspective. These are people that care about us, that protect us, and we just want to provide an avenue for people to get to know them a little bit more than when you’re passing them by on the side of the road or when they’re behind you at a traffic light.
“It’s a way for the community to feel comfortable with them, to get to know them, and as you can see from them interacting with people today, they’re really fine people. I really appreciate what they do, and I’m grateful that we have them in our community,” Pacheco said.
He said he hopes to grow the events to include all of the restaurants owned by the family.
“We’ve always supported our peace officers, and listen, you just need to drive around for five minutes to see this is a law enforcement town – Border Patrol, Customs, our Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, state troopers from out of state, sheriff’s office, constables, school district police.
“We’ve always supported them, but we wanted to do a little bit more. What can we do?
How can we bring them in and give other people a chance to know what we know, which is they’re really good people. We’ve got the best, the finest men and women, and we want them to know we feel that way,” Pacheco said.
He said the “Coffee With a Cop” event was also held today at the family’s restaurants in Eagle Pass and Pearsall.
“We’re committed to doing this on a yearly basis,” he added.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
