Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. worked on breaking down the barriers between the community and law enforcement by hosting one-on-one chats with shoppers at the Walt Whitman Mall on Wednesday.

The goal was to discuss ways to better public safety across the Island and build trust in law enforcement.

"More importantly when you have young kids in a mall environment that are walking around and they can understand what we do as law enforcement professionals and how we want to protect them and hopefully look up to us as good role models," says Toulon.

Officers and shoppers got to enjoy some coffee and cupcakes made by Shea Curtin of South Setauket, who tells News 12 she comes from a long line of first responders.