Cops, Conversation and a Cup of Joe 

Key Biscayne Police Chief Charles Press and officers meet residents for coffee as part of an effort to answer questions and make the public more acquainted with the work of law enforcement, Aug. 15, 3019 (Key News/Annali Hayward)

Key Biscayne police officers took time out Thursday morning to get to know members of the community. 

The sticky summer air was no deterrent Thursday as over a dozen Key Biscayne police officers gathered in Key Colony Plaza in an effort to better connect with local residents.

Over Starbucks coffee, croissants and bagels, Chief Charles Press and members of his team made themselves available for two hours of chitchat, socializing – and the occasional tough question. 

“This is out of most cops’ comfort zone,” said Chief Press. Officers attend knowing they may be confronted with tricky issues. “We usually see people during transactions. But the more people see us, the more they get to know us and see us as the good guys.”

Indeed most residents simply said “thank you,” particularly in light of the previous day’s events, in which the force’s officer Marcos Diaz was first on the scene at a shooting on the Rickenbacker causeway.

“The response yesterday was all a chief could hope for,” said Chief Press, praising Diaz as a “wonderful personality” with the ability to “turn in a moment into a warrior” and handle a gunshot wound and a suspected perpetrator alone before county backup arrived.

So are residents more worried now about gun violence close to home? 

“I don’t think so,” said Chief Press. “I think they are just more aware that it can happen anywhere. I have always said we are as exposed to these risks as any other community in downtown Miami.” 

Police conduct active shooter drills with most schools on the Key already, and the department is highly trained in these situations, having received military-level instruction in the past. 

Aside from guns, residents approached officers with concerns about child safety on the Key. One mother of two, Bruna Iasi, asked the chief to look closer at children on the Key being allowed to ride, bike or walk alone at a young age. Iasi worried that parents were not supervising their children. 

As for the most important issues facing the force in the coming months, Press was unequivocal: texting while driving. 

With the recently-passed law, parents in the new school year will have to be extra vigilant, as even holding a phone in a school zone will be an instant ticket – and an easier one for cops to write up at that, since it is hard to catch drivers in the act at higher speeds outside school zones. 

“We are going to write tickets – without blinking,” said Chief Press. “There are not going to be enough cops.”