Salt Lake City cops step in for Santa while building bridges with wary kids

About 50 Salt Lake City kids spent Saturday morning in the company of local police, and they didn’t quite know what to make of it at first.

The youngsters, ages 6-12, were not in trouble. Far from it. As part of a new Pay It Forward campaign to help disadvantaged children, the officers ate breakfast with them, took them to meet Santa Claus and helped them do some Christmas shopping with donated $150 Walmart gift cards.

But things were a little awkward when the kids first met police at 6 a.m. at downtown Salt Lake City’s Little America Hotel. The children’s faces showed they weren’t entirely sure what was happening.

“They came in and saw all the cops, and it kind of caught them off guard,” said patrol officer Jose Munoz.

That could be true for any child. But many in this group identified the police with traumatic events, such as seeing their parents arrested.

“A lot of these kids have just had horrific childhood experiences with cops,” said volunteer Melissa Foulger, who works for the state Division of Child & Family Services.

So their reluctance was understandable, but it didn’t last long. Minutes after meeting, the youngsters were sitting down and munching donuts with their uniformed partners. Many chatted and laughed, and there were smiles all around — both from the little ones and from the cops.

“Just for a few hours, touching the lives of a few kids that are a little less fortunate than us — it really means a lot,” said police Capt. Lamar Ewell, who’s participated in similar events for 35 years. “Officers fall over each other to come here.”

It’s not hard to understand why. The children — even the shy ones — were beyond excited. After being paired up with officers, they traveled by police cruiser to the Walmart on Parleys Way. They got to turn on the lights and the sirens — and talk, via police radio, to Santa Claus.

When Salt Lake Police Chief Mike Brown — sporting a Santa hat — announced that news, you could see jaws dropping across the room, at least among the younger kids.

Their excitement was palpable later as they ventured into Walmart to buy Christmas presents for themselves and their families. Some headed straight for the clothes aisles; others were intent on getting just the right toys.

Many arrived armed with shopping lists, but that didn’t keep them from seeing things they liked and changing their minds.

“The best part of this is picking your own clothes and toys,” said 6-year-old Macadia Meyer. “It’s so much fun.”

Officer Munoz, who was shopping with Meyer, jokingly called the scene “a madhouse.”

“I’ve got kids at home, too,” he said, “and anytime you go shopping with them — especially in the toy aisle — you’ve got to keep track of them.”

“But it’s great,” Munoz added. “They get to interact with us. Get to know us a little bit.”

Not that there weren’t distractions. Officer Brian Eschtruth, armed with a toy light saber, found himself battling four similarly armed, wannabe Jedis who only came up to his waist.

“I need help!” Eschtruth exclaimed amid the fight. “Hey, where’s my reinforcements?”

Salt Lake Mayor Jackie Biskupski and her two young sons were on hand at the Walmart, offering to help young shoppers to find items on their lists. Volunteers also wrapped all the presents, including the Hula Hoop 12-year-old Javier Alvarez picked out.

Fortunately, he chose it for himself, so secrecy wasn’t a factor.

Alvarez said he had a great time meeting the officers. “I’ve never really talked to them like this,” he said. “They’re great.”

This is the first year of the police department’s Pay It Forward event, which replaced the defunct Shop with a Cop program, which was funded primarily by businesses.

“This year, the bulk of the funding has come from officers donating money,” said Sgt. Brandon Shearer. “We raised close to $10,000, just from officers.”

Police contacted the Salt Lake School District, which identified four elementary schools (Backman, Escalante, Parkview and Rose Park) where students and families could use some Christmas help. The schools and folks with state DCFS and the International Refugee Center chose the kids who participated.

The city police department was joined by a few University of Utah police officers, who raised another $1,000. And it wasn’t hard to see how much the event meant to all involved.

“Most of our kids may be afraid of them. This is making it so they can feel comfortable being next to them,” said Grisel Guadarrama, who co-ordinates family involvement at Escalante Elementary.

Added Ines Lazalde, a counselor at Parkview and Escalante elementary schools: “One of my kiddos was, like, ‘I want to be a cop when I grow up!’ ”