80 children to shop for holiday gifts with law enforcement officials in annual "Shop with a Cop" event

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- On Saturday, December 6th, 80 children will shop for holiday gifts with Sheriff’s deputies and police and public safety officers from area law enforcement agencies for a day filled with the holiday spirit and giving.

Sheriff Clarke first became aware of the event while he was visiting family in Green Bay and he saw the nationally acclaimed “Shop With a Cop” program advertised in a local newspaper. The program builds positive relationships among law enforcement officers and young people in the community. In 2007, Sheriff Clarke started the program in Milwaukee County.

The Sheriff’s Office reached out to the Milwaukee-area business community and successfully secured funding for the program for its seventh year. Donations will allow children from Journey House, Boys and Girls Club, Neighborhood House, and the SOS Center – a non-profit social services agency, to enjoy breakfast and a day of holiday shopping with a law enforcement officer.

Each child from first through eighth grades will be paired with a law enforcement officer. They’ll board a charter bus at Journey House and head to the InterContinental Hotel downtown for a catered breakfast and then to Walmart.

At Walmart, the children will be able to purchase up to $100 worth of gifts for family members and themselves. After shopping, they’ll head to Journey House where a volunteer team will wrap their gifts while the kids take pictures with Santa and enjoy pizza and entertainment provided by volunteers from American Enterprises International.

Sheriff’s deputies will be joined by Milwaukee, Bayside, Fox Point, Greenfield, Greendale, Hales Corners, St. Francis, and UWM police officers, along with officers from the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Secret Service, Veterans Affairs Police, MATC Public Safety, Marquette University Dept. of Public Safety, and Wisconsin State Fair Park Police.

“This is a great opportunity to make a child’s holiday a little brighter,” said Sheriff Clarke. “If we influence children early, we can forge a positive perception of law enforcement officers that will last a lifetime.”