The Drip, downtown Ceres’ new coffee shop, was packed Friday morning with a mix of the public with Ceres Police officers and brass having “Coffee with a Cop.”

The Coffee with a Cop program is designed to foster closer ties between community members and police, ask questions, share concerns, learn more about Ceres Police Department’s work in Ceres neighborhoods, and get to know officers.

The event drew Ceres Police Chief Trenton Johnson, Lt. Jeff Godfrey and Sgt. Dirk Nieuwenhuis as well as officers who were out of uniform due to Friday being a training day.

City officials like City Manager Doug Dunford, Ceres City Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra and City Engineer Mike Beltran

Ceres Police Officer Freddie Ortiz organized the event.

Ortiz said the event is to connect officers with the community in one-on-one fashion.

According to Ortiz, Ceres is seeing less property crimes.

“You still got the drugs that’s going on we have a new generation of officers who are really proactive,” said Officer Ortiz, who is back on the streets after being a School Resource Officer. “So they’re making themselves seen out in the public now and deterring crime. My biggest thing is you make a presence, you wave and smile and it goes a long way. If they see your presence you deter crime. Back then it was like we had the old officers that maybe got content for a while, now the newer generation – everybody is motivated to work for Chief Johnson. He’s killing. Under his watch the transparency is motivating.”