By Mikayla van Loon
Before the pandemic it wasn’t uncommon for Victoria Police members to host Coffee with a Cop events and since coming out of lockdown, any way of getting back out into the community has been a key focus.
That’s why on Thursday 8 December Yarra Ranges Proactive Policing Unit Leading Senior Constable Linda Hancock and Senior Constable Luke Egginton joined the Lions Club for a new initiative called Chips and Chat.
Setting up at Lilydale Village near Gami’s, the partnership between police, Lions volunteers and centre management company JLL, brought an opportunity for members of the public to mingle with community groups while enjoying some hot chips free of charge.
“Chips with a cop is a new thing because there’s no cafe there. So we’re doing SafePL8’s with Lions and we’re just going to meet there and engage with anyone who wants to have a chat,” Leading S/C Hancock told Star Mail prior to the event.
While Leading S/C Hancock said there had been a few events like coffee with a cop since the pandemic lockdowns ended, nothing had really been advertised like Chips and Chat.
Hoping to help change the perception of authoritative policing which had to happen during the pandemic lockdowns, the social events invite the community to see police as people first.
“People saw the police as very authoritative during Covid. So we want to present that we’re open for a chat and be a friendly face…and come back out into the community because it was quite them and us for a while. That’s what it felt like. It felt like that for us too.”
Chips and Chat was also about encouraging people to re-enter the community, particularly by combining with the Lions Club of Mooroolbark Croydon to show what people can take part in.
Covid is still impacting a lot of people. There’s still a lot of concern about coming back out into the community and what they can do and there’s a reluctance to come back out.
“Volunteering is low. We’re seeing people not really engaging with activities.”
As a SafePL8 event, Lions Club volunteers were there to help install anti-theft screws on number plates to anyone who wanted that service.
“Lions is a service club so we try to do what we can when we can,” Lions volunteer Wendy Rowles said.
