Uko Akpanuko
Daily Herald
The Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) hosted its annual “Shop with a Cop” Christmas event on Wednesday, Dec. 18.
PAPS members joined around 20 students from the community at Canadian Tire to help them pick out gifts for friends and family.
“It’s been such an amazing program for our community and especially for the kids and the students who are involved,” Sergeant Derek Simonson of the Prince Albert Police Service Community Policing Unit said.
The 20 students were selected from four different schools in Prince Albert and given $150 to spend on Christmas gifts for their families.
The Prince Albert Police Service have been carrying out this event since 2008 when the total was $100 per student, but this year the PAPS decided to increase it to $150 per student.
“It gives us an opportunity to strengthen and promote those positive relationships with the kids,” Simonson said. “Families around Christmas time, we know, are a little bit more stressed. This, we hope, is just a little bit to make that Christmas Day that much more special.”
The event also afforded some police officers the opportunity to get away from their normal official duties.
“It’s really interesting because there’s a lot of kids who are doing some real practical shopping for their parents and of course we have a few kids that want to buy for themselves, so we’ve got to help them a little bit, but it’s great,” Simonson said. “The police officers are enjoying this just as much as the kids.”
Nitanis Ratt, a Grade 3 student from St. John Community School, was among the 20 students who were out shopping on Wednesday. In an interview, Ratt said she had found gifts for her brother, sister, mom, and all but one of her many uncles.
“My brother, my uncle, my other uncle, my other uncle, (and my mom
“I got my sister this little toy unicorn. I got one of my uncles this fuzzy blanket (and) I got my brother this,” she said holding up a nerf gun.
Prince Albert Police Service chaplain Nora Vedress was on site to help Ratt with her shopping. Vedress said Shop with a Cop is always a fun event to be a part of.
“It’s one of my favourite days of the whole year,” Vedress said. “It’s just so much fun seeing the kids and the officers interacting. The kids are smiling (and) the officers are smiling. It’s just nice to have a day where no one has anything worry about. We can all just hang out and have fun together, build some bridges and make some friends. It’s great.”
