Shop With A Cop Program Spreads Holiday Cheer To Tomball's Needy

TOMBALL, TX — The Tomball Police Department and the Tomball Police Explorer Program made the Christmas season brighter for 25 of the area's neediest children by taking them on a $250 shopping spree at Walmart through the department's Shop with a Cop program.

Officers and students arrived in police cars with sirens blaring and lights flashing early on Dec. 15, and it was enough to make one veteran cop shed a tear.

Tomball Police Chief Billy Tidwell, who shared news about the program with the Tomball City Council on Monday, told the story of one little boy that tugged at the heart and reminded some that times could always be tougher.

"You know you are dealing with a kid who is severely underprivileged and has needs when you walk into Walmart with a 10-year-old boy and you walk into the clothing section and ask him what he would like, and he says, 'Can I get some underwear?' You know they're underprivileged," Tidwell said.

The Shop with a Cop program is run through the Tomball Police Explorer program, which raises funds to help provide Christmas presents to underprivileged children in Tomball.

The program has been a labor of love and community service that began in 1999 with the Tomball Police Department collecting money from vending machines to help those children at Christmas time.

The kids are nominated by counselors at Tomball ISD, who provide a list of about 50 students to the Tomball Police Department. The list is whittled down by police who pore through the biographies of the kids.

"Sometimes we'll pick the one's that are the most touching or pull at the heart strings," said Officer Jennifer Davis, who runs the program for the Tomball Police.

On the day of the shopping spree, the Explorers and police officers shared breakfast with the students.

After breakfast, the student the officer they are paired with and the Explorer all go on the shopping trip that involves buying clothes or toys the kids would otherwise not receive.

The process helps foster a level of trust between the kids and the police, Davis said.

"Some of these kids have been through a lot and not a lot of their interactions with police have been good," Davis said. "This shows them that we are people, that we just wear a uniform."

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Image: Courtesy, TPD

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