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When Constantine Stavropoulos, owner of Tryst in Adams Morgan, agreed to host 鈥淐offee with a Cop鈥� at his coffee shop, he thought it would be a good way for community members to talk about neighborhood safety, particularly incidents relating to homelessness, to the Metropolitan Police Department鈥檚 third district.

Instead, the event was met with intense backlash and criticism on social media and forced Tryst to rename the event to the 鈥淎dams Morgan Community Safety Forum鈥� with no MPD presence.

The original event, scheduled for Oct. 20, generated angry comments that flooded Tryst鈥檚 Instagram, with many users upset that an event about safety included MPD. Some of the comments included:

Initially, Stavropoulos didn鈥檛 understand why people were so angry.聽

鈥淲hen we put it together, I was coming at it from the mindset of this is a community thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was trying to figure out why people are equating it to a separate issue and not focusing on the community.鈥澛�

According to MPD鈥檚 website, is an MPD-sponsored event that is 鈥渄edicated to encouraging communication and positive interactions between law enforcement agencies and the public.鈥澛�

It is a program that has been in effect since 2018 and used in different D.C. neighborhoods.聽

鈥淭he event has become so popular that the Metropolitan Police Department hosts similar coffee events with community members throughout the year,鈥� the MPD website said.聽

Plus, Stavropoulos said Tryst had hosted this event a few years ago with no issue. 鈥淚t was successful, everybody was happy, there was no concern about it,鈥� he added.聽

However, when Mohir Muminiy, a worker at Tryst, contacted Stavropoulos about concerns he and some of his colleagues had with the event鈥檚 messaging, Stavropoulos listened and worked with Muminiy to rebrand.聽

鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe police are the solution at all, however, if I kind of proceed with that rhetoric of 鈥榊o completely cancel the event鈥� and all that, it wouldn鈥檛 have been productive,鈥� Muminiy said.聽

Muminiy was a large reason why the Oct. 20 event became rebranded as the 鈥淎dams Morgan Community Safety Forum,鈥� did not include MPD and instead included voices from people in the community who have dealt with the biggest safety problem for Adams Morgan: homelessness.聽

鈥淚deally, initially, we wanted to get it canceled, if I鈥檓 being honest,鈥� Muminiy said. 鈥淏ut then, as we鈥檙e talking, we鈥檙e like, 鈥極K instead of just canceling the event, while everyone is kind of looking at Tryst, let鈥檚 just turn it into a way that then will help the homeless population that we see is the current problem with the whole security within Adams Morgan.鈥欌��

The Tryst worker urged Stavropoulos to make the event tailored towards social services and get representatives from homeless shelters 鈥� which Stavropoulos took to heart.聽

Andy Wassenich, assistant director of outreach for Miriam鈥檚 Kitchen, spoke at the safety forum about his role and the role of Miriam鈥檚 Kitchen for the homeless population.聽

Wassenich explained that is a D.C. Department of Human Services contracted outreach provider. The organization works with the D.C. government and the homeless population to get them the proper food, housing and help they need.聽

He added that Miriam鈥檚 Kitchen has night teams that check in on different neighborhoods in D.C.

鈥淲e have a night team that swings through here once or twice a week as well,鈥� Wassenich said. 鈥淪o if there鈥檚 ever anything that鈥檚, you know, pressing we will send somebody up here or respond to it.鈥�

Incidents relating to homelessness have upticked for businesses as they鈥檝e started emerging out of the pandemic, according to Stavropoulos.聽

鈥淎 lot of our managers were not trained to deal correctly with the individuals,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he knee jerk reaction is to kick them out of here or call the police. We know that there are ways to address the issue.鈥澛�

Ana Reyes, the owner of El Tamarindo, which is a few blocks down from Tryst, spoke about an incident she had with a homeless individual who came into her restaurant.聽

鈥淭here was one situation where a gentleman came in and he seemed to be, you know, just a regular customer,鈥� she said. 鈥淐ame in, ate, had a couple of beers and then zonked out.鈥澛�

Reyes and her staff tried to wake the man up and, when he wouldn鈥檛, she said her only option was to call the police. When the police arrived, they told her she could press charges.

鈥淔or what?鈥� Reyes said.聽聽

They gave her a , which is a form 鈥渢hat is used to prevent individuals from entering private property,鈥� according to MPD.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 as good as it gets,鈥� Reyes said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the only resource that they were able to provide.鈥�

Kristen Barden, the executive director of the Adams Morgan BID, explained that the BID has safety ambassadors who patrol the neighborhood during the day. They鈥檙e not law enforcement, don鈥檛 carry weapons and center their work around de-escalation.聽

鈥淚 do mostly neighborhood security, homeless outreach, take initiative that businesses are taken care of,鈥� Gari Requena, a safety ambassador, said.聽

Requena has been a safety ambassador for almost two years and has worked in the security field for almost 15. His training came from his experience; he was not trained by the BID.聽

The safety ambassador has introduced himself to many businesses in Adams Morgan so they know they can call him or another safety ambassador if they don鈥檛 want to, or need to, call the police.聽

Before the community safety forum, Reyes didn鈥檛 know her neighborhood had safety ambassadors and said she would鈥檝e rather called Requena than the police.聽

Despite an onslaught of angry social media backlash and an event overhaul, Stavropoulos was happy with the outcome of the community safety forum. 鈥淚 think I found in the last 20 plus years that everybody kind of wants the same thing and because we鈥檙e all so passionate about it, we don鈥檛 always have that same approach about how to solve it,鈥� he said.

Stavropoulos said his mission statement for all his businesses is 鈥淏uilding meaningful connections one animal cracker at a time.鈥澛�

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 for our staff but it鈥檚 kind of true for what we鈥檙e trying to do in the community too.鈥�

The MPD third district and the Office of Councilwoman Nadeau did not respond to requests for comment.