The 28th annual Cops for Kids event included Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus arriving in an Albuquerque police helicopter. | Facebook photo / Cops For Kids
The 28th annual Cops for Kids event attracted officers from five law enforcement agencies in Albuquerque and New Mexico to meet children from the city’s schools for a day of food, fun and friendship.
"It's a great event to just serve our community," Sonya Marquez, APD's Crime Stoppers liaison told KOAT. "Just to remind the kids that law enforcement is there to help them, to build that relationship between them."
More than 60 members of the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo and Sandoval County Sheriff's Departments, the University of New Mexico Police Department, and the New Mexico State Police began their day with each picking up a youngster at home at 8 a.m.
Everyone gathered at Silva Lanes where Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus arrived in an Albuquerque police helicopter. After breakfast attendees bowled and did arts and crafts. From there, a police escort, with lights flashing and sirens blaring, took the children to a nearby Walmart where each child had time to make the most of a $100 gift card they received.
The shopping was followed by lunch at Dion's before officers gave the kids a ride home.
The children were students randomly chosen from Albuquerque Public Schools receiving Title 1 funding, a federal program for schools where 50% or more of the students come from economically disadvantaged homes.
