Kauai police to host Coffee with a Cop in Līhue on July 8
Kauai police will take Coffee with a Cop to Kind Koffee Co. in Līhue on July 8, giving residents a low-pressure way to raise safety concerns and meet officers.
Kauai police will host Coffee with a Cop at Kind Koffee Co. in Līhue on July 8, with the community conversation set for 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at 3366 Waapa Road. The county event places officers in a familiar coffee shop instead of a government office, making it easier for residents to stop in, talk story, and ask questions without a formal complaint or a crisis in progress.
The format is built for practical concerns that affect daily life in Līhue and nearby communities. Residents can use the event to raise neighborhood safety issues, traffic complaints, vandalism, petty theft, and questions about what the Kauai Police Department is seeing in the area. The value is in the setting as much as the conversation: people who might never attend a commission meeting or walk into a police office can still sit down across from officers and talk face to face.
The July 8 gathering is not a one-off. KPD has used Coffee with a Cop before at locations across the island, including Starbucks in Kukui Grove Shopping Center on June 30, 2022, and Kauai Coffee Company Visitor Center in Kalāheo on May 3, 2022. A county release also said the April 19, 2022 event in Kapaa was KPD’s first Coffee with a Cop after two years, underscoring how the department has used the program to reconnect with residents after a gap.
KPD’s annual report said Chief Todd G. Raybuck expanded community engagement by establishing Coffee with a Cop events at Kauai Coffee Company and the Anaina Hou Community Center. The national Coffee with a Cop model is meant to create a distraction-free setting for officers and community members to talk over coffee, and KPD’s own mission emphasizes public trust, confidence, and service to the community.
The July 8 event will also come early in Chief Rudy Tai’s tenure. Tai was sworn in on March 9, 2026, as KPD’s ninth chief of police, giving residents a chance to meet the department’s top leader in an informal setting. For immediate issues, KPD directs residents to the dispatch center at (808) 241-1711, while emergencies still belong at 911.
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