September 28, 2025 – The community is invited to participate in a Cops, Coffee and Cameras event on Tuesday, September 30th from 7:30am to 9:30am. The social meet and greet will take place at McDonald’s West (962 West Eldorado). The event is sponsored by Decatur Police Department and McDonald’s in cooperation with the new Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association. Citizens are invited to attend to ask questions, share concerns in their neighborhood or chat with officials.
Also in attendance will be Daniel Thomas, a former police officer in East St Louis, IL and currently a top McDonald’s Security & Safety person. “He handles security at the McDonald’s All American Basketball games, McD Worldwide Conventions including the one recently in Barcelona, Spain and many more large public events. Mr. Thomas has provided training and talks to all of the Decatur McDonald’s managers on handling in store conflicts safely,” says Andrew Birschbach, co-owner Decatur area McDonald’s.
Decatur City Manager Tim Gleason said about the upcoming event “I’m hoping everyone realizes how important getting to know one another better is in a relaxed setting. The importance of what our officers do is much bigger than the enforcement side that gets all the attention. They want to serve you and getting to know each other helps us do that better.”
The Coalition of Neighborhood Organizations has donated ten blink cameras to be given away to Decatur citizens for free. They must have internet and agree to register the camera on the DPD link to receive a security camera. Cono has provided over 100 security doorbell cameras to citizens as a part of their neighborhood safety and security program.
