Las Vegas officers meet young crowd at new Cocoa with a Cop
The aroma of hot cocoa filled the air at Sunrise Library as northeast Las Vegas Valley children listened to hear stories and drank hot chocolate with police as part of Cocoa with a Cop.
The new event is aimed at providing a safe space where children can interact with law enforcement. Officers with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Northeast Area Command read to attendees and engaged in a coloring session.
“It’s so important for the children to see police in a positive light,” said Rebecca Zisch, the library’s scheduling specialist and leader of the Cocoa with a Cop event. “If they get lost, if they get scared, if something is going on that they don’t understand, they need to know how to reach out to police — know what they look like. We love that we can make that connection for them.”
The monthly event is the children’s spin-off of Coffee with a Cop, a monthly library gathering where residents and law enforcement discuss policing, neighborhood crime and community issues, Zisch said.
“With kids it’s fun,” said officer Keith Celaya. “It helps build that relationship. When we get together in a place such as this, it shows that all of us are more level and we can communicate, and they can see us for the people we are. Getting to see the excitement on the children’s face is very rewarding for us, too.”
Zisch said the library plans to host the event a couple of times a year; it will rotate among the region’s libraries.
“If we just teach them how to be respectful of police or any adult early on, when they get older they’ll have more respect when they are asked to do something,” said Nina Liso of North Las Vegas, who brought her niece Makena to the event. “We as a community have to join together and unite. We need more events that teach children not to be afraid of (law enforcement).”
Contact Mia Sims at msims@
