We all know how important it is to communicate with everyone, from our family members to our coworkers to our customers. But what really counts is how we go about it. In other words, do we understand the importance of acting as “Hosts” and treating our customers as “Guests” to effectively create relationships that encourage comfort and confidence in what we do and what we say?*
It’s obvious that our Police department is on that track, the right track. Last November, Chief Garner and his staff organized the first Coffee with a Cop event in Greeley. That led a new resident to support and help organize a second one in January of this year. Between the two events, the GPD was able to attract almost 100 residents to stop by for coffee and a visit with our officers.
This community interaction effort has opened up new avenues of understanding with residents and offers opportunities to broaden resident participation in City government. Staff is optimistic that these positive interactions will lead to tangible results, such as more participants in the chief’s Latino Advisory Board, more applicants for the Citizen’s Police Academy, more volunteers for the Victim’s Advocate program, and overall more residents interested in all our boards and commissions.
It’s about being a good host, whether it be at our FunPlex front desk, the City Hall cashiers desk or the Building Inspection front counter, we believe this positive face-to-face interaction is truly important and meaningful to our customers. As Chief Garner was quoted in The Tribune, “It’s the most important thing we do.” In fact, GPD has plans to hold more Coffee with a Cop sessions.
I’d like to thank Mr. Salas, the resident who sponsored the second event, and our Police staff—they understand that our Principled Relationships core value is often simply stated as the Golden Rule—treat others as you’d like to be treated.
Roy H. Otto, City Manager
*Growing Leaders, Inc. Hosts & Guests Habitude™