By KRISSI HUMBARD — The weather outside may have been frightful, but the scene Saturday inside Target and Mall at Prince George’s was delightful.
Police officers from local law enforcement agencies took local children shopping for Christmas gifts during the Hyattsville City Police Department’s annual Shop with a Cop event on Dec. 15. Officers picked up 105 children from local schools and took them to the mall in police cars, lights and sirens going. Children had smiles on their faces during the entire event, as they wandered the aisles figuring out just which toy they wanted to take home. But, the officers were smiling, too.
“[Saturday] was amazing,” said A/Cpl. Chris Evans, the event’s organizer. “The City of Hyattsville Police Department, along with over 12 other law enforcement agencies in Prince George’s County partnered with Target and the Mall at Prince George’s to make Christmas brighter for over 100 children. Just seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter of children interacting with officers during a day of shopping, which ended with a private pizza party with Santa Claus, made the months of planning worth it.”
More than 90 officers from HCPD, University Park Police Department, Riverdale Park Police Department, Seat Pleasant Police Department, Prince George’s County Police Department, Prince George’s County Sheriff Office, Mount Rainier Police Department, Maryland Park Police, Glenarden Police Department, Laurel Police Department, Edmonston Police Department, Maryland State Police – College Park, Forest Heights Police Department, and the Glenn Dale Volunteer Fire Department participated in the event.
HCPD has hosted the annual program since 2003.
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