Teresa Acosta and Jewel Atkinson usually only see police officers if there's trouble in their neighborhoods. But on Saturday, the young girls spent the morning Christmas shopping with St. Paul Police Officer Jason Whitney, then grabbing pizza and wrapping the presents for their families.
It's part of the annual "Shop With Cops" party in St. Paul, a day designed to help lower-income children buy some great gifts for their families -- and allow police officers to befriend children who otherwise might be wary of them.
"I've been with a police officer before, but not to hang out with them," said 10-year-old Acosta, scoping out the toy section of the Target Store on University Avenue. "This is fun."
Acosta was among the 160 children and 80 police officers whose red carts crammed the aisles of the Target store yesterday. Grabbing Barbie Dolls, Scooby Doo videos, trucks and games, the young shoppers purchased gifts for their immediate families, courtesy of the program, and at the same time learned that cops can be regular folks, too.
For officers such as Whitney, the day holds special importance. Last year about this time, he and fellow officer Mark McGinn responded to a late-night report that a woman inside an apartment was yelling and keeping up the neighbors. Upon arriving at the home, they found two young children with a very disturbed woman -- and with an unusual request.
After sending the mother to treatment and driving the children to emergency foster care, the older child asked if she and her sister could still be part of the "Shop with Cops" party the next day.
"I didn't want cops to look bad, especially since we just took their mommy away," said Whitney. "So when our shift was over at 8 in the morning, we drove back and got the kids and brought them [to the program]. Now it's an every-year thing for me."
The day started at the bustling district police station on Hamline Avenue. Children were paired with a police officer and then headed to a photo opportunity with Santa, Mrs. Claus and other costumed characters. They then grabbed cookies before running across the street to Target, which instantly became the most secure building in Minnesota -- with 80 cops and 40 extra Target volunteers on hand.
