Coffee with a Cop was started by Officers Doug Dillard and Wally Martinez. In 2001, while working as patrol officers, Officers Dillard and Martinez started meeting citizens for breakfast at 35th Avenue and Northern as calls for service permitted.

This went on for a few years, but there were no regularly scheduled meetings. During one of the meetings one of the citizens received a phone call. He told the caller, “I can’t talk right now, I’m having coffee with a cop”. Since that time the meetings were called Coffee with a Cop. Residents from different neighborhood groups would just show up to share information, get advice, or to just have someone to talk with. In 2004 Officer Dillard decided to schedule the meetings for every Wednesday morning. The meetings were informal, with no agendas or guest speakers. Citizens from different neighborhoods were encouraged to network and exchange ideas with each other.

Representatives from the Police Department, City Council, Zoning, and other city departments would frequently attend the meetings and answer questions from the community. Officer Dillard became a Community Action Officer and teamed up with Officer Jeff Pfaffenbach. Officers Dillard and Pfaffenbach continued the meetings.

Due to the popularity of the program, in 2007 Officer Dillard wrote a request to submit Coffee with a Cop as an official police department program. In 2009, Officers Dillard and Pfaffenbach transferred from the Community Action Squad.

Realizing the value of the program several other Community Action Officers stepped in to make sure the program continued. Cactus Park Precinct Coffee with a Cop meets the first Wednesday of the month, at 8:00 a.m. The locations are rotated throughout the precinct, and advertised in various newsletters, and the precinct’s web site.

Cactus Park Precinct also has quarterly Dinner with the Police meetings to make it more convenient for residents who are not able to attend in the morning.