Pinnacle Bank hosts Coffee with the Cops

Cynthia Sheeley
Posted 10/26/22

Bethany Scwartzkopf, Kaleen Troupe, Quinn Hunter and Bailey Cabrera from Pinnacle Bank

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Pinnacle Bank hosts Coffee with the Cops

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TORRINGTON – Bethany Scwartzkopf, Kaleen Troupe, Quinn Hunter and Bailey Cabrera from Pinnacle Bank, along with their Citizen’s Club, hosted Coffee with the Cops on Friday, Oct. 21 at the Senior Friendship Center. This event’s focus was to educate and help build a stronger relationship between the police department and the elders in the community.

The Citizen’s Club is a club for Pinnacle Bank customers, from the Torrington and Mitchell branches, who are 50 years old or older. Members of this club regularly go on trips, plays and sporting events. This is the third time the club has hosted Coffee with the Cops.

“When we first started doing this, we were seeing a lot of fraudulent activity at the bank as far as our elderly being taken advantage of,” Scwartzkopf said. “We are trying to educate the community. We have an open session where people mingle with the cops, get to know them and ask them any questions they have.”

“(Our focus is) building a good reputation between the police department and our older community,” Troupe added.

Chief of Police Matt Johnson and Officers Polson, Mills and Maestas were at the event.

During the event, Johnson discussed general safety and scam awareness. 

“We’re super happy to be with you today for Coffee with the Cops,” Johnson said. “We’d like to thank our friends at Pinnacle Bank for sponsoring this again.

“From a general safety standpoint, Torrington is an amazing place to live.” Johnson continued. We would be hard-pressed to find a better place to live, regardless of your age. This is an amazing community. People still care about each other here.”

However, as Johnson explained, there are still a few important concerns the elderly should be aware of. These safety concerns were auto and outbuilding burglaries, driving safety, and scams. 

To avoid burglaries, Johnson reminded everyone to lock their cars and garages and to put valuables in a more secure place. He then discussed the regular deterioration of driving skills with age. To avoid accidents, he asked that everyone make decisions based on safety, not efficiency. 

“If people are honking at you, that’s just applause for good driving,” Chief Johnson said. “That’s okay, don’t feel bad about that.” 

It is more important to drive at a speed that you are comfortable with, rather than copying what other drivers are doing. He requested for everyone to have honest and open discussions with their families and doctors about their driving abilities.

Moving on, Johnson warned the audience about the wide variety of scams out there, including romance, greed, and healthcare scams. These scams can easily drain all the victim’s accounts or steal their important information. 

“If you have questions about it before you do anything, come and see us, talk to a family member, or talk to the folks at the bank,” Johnson continued. “Anytime someone tries to convince you not to talk to the police, your family, or your banker, it’s probably a scam, and you want to be very careful with that.”