The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Shop with a Cop program forges new
friendships between youth, officers
Spirit of giving hits home early for all involved

By The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
LAVALE, Dec. 11 - Frostburg Police Department Cpl. J.M. Sites tried to help 12-year-old Cameron pick out quality gifts for his brother, sister and mom.

Sites also tried to help Cameron stay within budget and ensure items put into the shopping basket were in good shape.

There wasn't, however, a list of rules and regulations Sites had to follow on Saturday at Walmart in LaVale. There was no policy to guide the police officers' behavior with the children.

"He's just being a good friend," said Cameron, who lives in Frostburg.

Cameron was one of 35 area children to participate in the local Shop with a Cop program, sponsored by the Cumberland Valley Optimist Club. The event is strongly supported by Public Safety Local 1521 and nearly every law enforcement agency in the area. Contributions this year came from AFSCME Public Safety Local 1521, Walmart and private donors, said Judy Lazarus-Haag, of the Optimist Club.

After Saturday morning's shopping adventure, police officers escorted their charges to the Cumberland Holiday Inn. The hotel donated breakfasts to the children while volunteers helped wrap the gifts.

Some children had their shopping strategy outlined in a well-prepared plan detailed on spiral notebooks. Others were winging it and hoped they could find something for their brother, sister and mom and dad.

With the expanse of Walmart, 11-year-old Christina, of Rawlings, was timid in the beginning.

"I don't know where to start," she told police companion Jamie Pappas,a correctional officer at the Allegany County Detention Center.

Christina had plans to buy for Isaiah, her 7-year-old brother, along with baby brother John, 4-year-old sister Summer and her parents, John and Kelly.

Christina was more of a free spirit. Rather than going by a list, she was willing to wait for the perfect gift to jump out at her from the store's shelves. Some things, however, just weren't going home with her.

"I ain't gettin' my brother that," Christina said of a full-action Nerf blaster toy gun. "He'll shoot me."

Christina also was alert for soft toys and nothing too small, "nothing that (baby John) can chew on," she said.

Craig, 13, of Cumberland, was paired with Rocky Reed, a lieutenant with the Cumberland Police Department. Craig had to divide his $125 in gift certificates between two younger brothers - Brandon, 7, and Danny, 9 - and older sister Kristen, 16, and older brother Jason, 19, along with his mom, dad and grandmother.

Craig had more than a little help with his list, he said.

"My sister made it," Craig said. "She's the smart one."

Craig made his choice for all three women on his list. Both Craig and Reed seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"The ladies are done," Reed said. "It's never easy (buying) for the ladies."

Bernie George of the Optimist Club said the local program has grown in what is now its fifth year from 17 children to 35 this year.

"This is one of the best projects we do," said George, who listed speech and essay contests for youth, a student appreciation program for high schoolers and a respective law enforcement officers program in the area on the list of projects the Optimist Club coordinates.

Newly sworn-in Allegany County Sheriff Craig Robertson partnered with 12-year-old Sabrina, of McCoole, for the shopping trip. She had so many people to buy presents for - seven - she had to refer to her trustworthy, well-worn notepad to remember them all.

The big-ticket item, Sabrina said, was a video game for the Nintendo Wii that the whole family could play.

Robertson echoed George's thoughts about how much the program has grown in five years.

"When it first started, it was hard to get officers" to give their volunteer time to the effort. That soon changed, Robertson said.

Many of the officers' attitudes quickly converted after their first time, Robertson said, and modified to "'don't forget me next year.'"