THUNDER BAY – “We want to be approachable to the public,” says Deputy Chief Ryan Hughes of the Thunder Bay police.
Officers held an informal meet-and-greet at Dolce Coffee House on Friday to connect with residents over a cup of coffee during police week.
The event allowed residents to ask questions, share concerns and have open conversations about policing in the community.
Hughes says there is a stigma in the community and police officers are often seen as unapproachable.
“We use these platforms to try to break those barriers down where the public is not nervous about coming in and approaching a police officer. So, these types of events really help that out,” he said.
Hughes said a lot of the feedback officers get is about police response to a call for service.
“We try to explain to our community that our offices are extremely busy and sometimes every call that a person makes is a priority to them, but when you start putting them all together, we have to prioritize, and sometimes we don’t get to the calls,” he said.
Constable Greg Bago is part of the community inclusion team.
He says he finds himself very approachable and he likes engaging with the public.
He said events like Coffee with a Cop are an open forum for conversation, to share concerns or clear up any misconceptions or misunderstandings.
“I don’t mind people asking me tough questions and I can do my best to answer them, but I think the transparency of getting through those types of questions and situations would definitely help build more trust,” Bago said.
One of Bago’s roles with the police department is also recruitment; however, he was not expecting that to come up at the event.
“I actually talked to two grade 12 students from St. Pat’s that came by here for, I guess, they just came for a walk. I thought they were here for the event, and some of the questions they asked is what does it take to be a police officer? What kind of schooling do you have to have? And then I found out some of the stuff that they wanted to pursue, and one actually wants to be a military police. So I told her to reach out to me at some point in time when she’s a little bit older. She’s only 17 right now, and then I can help her with some of those questions,” Bago said.
He said he has felt an overwhelming support in the community, with residents routinely going up to him to thank him for his service.
Bago said he encourages people to show their support.
“It feels really good, especially, there’s many officers that work much harder than I do, and when they hear that from the public, it goes a long way just to know that we’re out there, that we’re doing a good job and it’s recognized. I just want to say thank you to the public for all that,” he said.
By Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on May 21, 2026 at 10:22
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