Local law enforcement continues holiday tradition

LOGAN — Local law enforcement agencies joined together Saturday morning to help give some Cache Valley kids a Merry Christmas. The deputies, officers and troopers took part in the annual “Shop with a Cop” event, taking 53 local children on a shopping spree.

Each child was paired with a law enforcement officer and given a $100 gift card. The officers then helped the kids shop for presents.

North Park Police Sgt. John Seamons has participated in the annual event for 23 years and now helps organize it. He said it is an opportunity to have a positive impact on the kids.

“A lot of them have had to deal with us or their parents in a negative light,” said Seamons. “So this is a way for us to be portrayed as a positive thing for them. They get to see us. They get to see a human side to us as well, not just the enforcer of the laws of the land.”

This year’s event started at Golden Corral where the children and officers had breakfast together. They then had a police escort, with lights and sirens, to Kmart.

Police from North Park, Smithfield, Utah State and Preston joined deputies from the Cache and Franklin County Sheriff’s office and Utah Highway Patrol troopers in participating.

Seamons said all of the officers volunteer their time to participate and also donate money for the event.

“You’ll see that also at the tills here,” said Seamons. “When a child has gone over their amount, the officers will pull out their own debit cards and pay for it. We try to tell them not to but they say, ‘no, this is my gift to them.’”

Santa Claus also made an appearance, being chauffeured by the North Logan City Fire Department.

The Division of Child and Family Services selected the children, surveying them to determine what they and their family wanted for Christmas.

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