Shop with a Cop: Police Around the Country Accompany Children on Holiday Shopping Sprees

Children across the country were treated to shopping sprees with police officers over the weekend, in an annual event put on by many local police departments called “Shop with a Cop.”

Multiple departments in northeast Ohio participated in the event. In Summit County, 140 children were taken to a local Walmart to spend $150 on gifts for themselves or others, according to Fox 8. Members of the community raised the money over the past year.

Deputy Michael Hawsman of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office was on hand for the event.

“Watching the kids eyes get twice as big as they pull in and go shopping that’s what we’re here for,” Hawsman told Fox 8.

In Medina County, 150 children went shopping with officers, and they received a special surprise when Santa Claus arrived via helicopter, the outlet reports.

During the coronavirus pandemic last year, many departments could not accompany children on a shopping spree, but officers still found a way to make a difference, according to Fox 8. 

“We still did 120 families,” said University of Akron Police Officer Pamela Helmick. “We got lists and we went shopping and did the gift wrapping and then each department delivered them to the houses.”

In Raleigh, North Carolina, officers brought 150 children to a Walmart on Saturday and each child was given $100 to spend, CBS 17 reports. The children even received permission to engage in a store-wide game of Cops and Robbers. 

The Niagara Falls Police Department in New York treated 30 children to a shopping spree on Saturday at a local Walmart, according to WIVB. Each child received $100 to spend on themselves or a loved one. 

Wyoming’s Casper Police Department started its Shop with a Cop event on Saturday, according to the Casper Police Department. The department lists that the event will continue on Sunday. Wyoming News Now reports that 270 children were given $60 gift cards to splurge in Wyoming’s Natrona County.

“A lot of the officers who come out and do this, this is our favorite time of year,” said Casper Police Officer Jeff Bullard, per the outlet. We get to recharge the batteries, connect with people on a different level than we normally do throughout the rest of the year.”