The annual Shop with a Cop event will take place on Saturday, December 19 where some children in the local area will be given the opportunity to Shop with a Cop for the Christmas holiday.  This event has been going on for many years and the officers enjoy it as much as the children do.

“So I know I just passed my 21 year mark in law enforcement in the area and it’s been going on as long as I have been in law enforcement here. There’s been some changes with it over the years, on how we’ve gone about doing it. We have found it’s a lot easier for one agency to try and secure all the funding, then everybody to try and go find it on their own. So it’s worked real well for Price City to spearhead that,” said Program Coordinator, Sgt. Kelly Maynes. Although PCPD gathers the funding for the program it would not be possible without the other agencies in the area assisting with the Shop with a Cop event.

“We try to get every agency in the area so we got the Price City Police, Carbon County Sheriff’s Department, Helper City Police, Wellington City Police, East Carbon City Police, the Utah Highway Patrol, Adult Probation and Parole that we involve,” said Sgt. Maynes. These agencies assist with the event every year, the officers look forward to going shopping with the kids while providing them with a positive and meaningful experience.

This year’s event will be done differently due to the COVID-19 restrictions but coordinators hope that the event will still be a huge hit with the children. Part of the experience was the annual breakfast kick-off at McDonald’s, followed by the parade of law enforcement vehicles making their way down Main Street to Walmart, unfortunately, both were unable to be scheduled this year. “One of the changes that we have to make as well is just to limit the amount of people that we have going in all at once. We’re going to stager the agencies is to what times they are coming throughout the morning so that everybody is not all there at once, just so we don’t overload Walmart, and we abide by some of these guidelines set forth by the state,” explained, Sgt. Maynes.

The Shop with a Cop program is looking to assist 50 children this year and this would not be possible without the help from their sponsors. “Walmart is a huge sponsor of Shop with a Cop for us, they’re also a huge sponsor for it nationwide. There’s a community-based grant that we get through Walmart that funds more than half of what we’re able to do. Then we had another agency or another group out of Salt Lake it’s the Utah Civilian Police Association who also has been able to provide us with, almost matches what we’re able to get from grants or able to get from Walmart. This year we were able to get just a little bit more which was a little surprising given what is going on in the world this year,” stated Sgt. Maynes.

Any individuals that wish to make a donation towards the Shop with a Cop program can do so at the PCPD office at 910 North 700 East or by calling them at (435) 636-3000.