Douglas police Shop with a Cop/Secret Santa is community affair

CASPER, Wyo. — Applications are open now through Nov. 25 for the Douglas Police Department Shop With a Cop event, happening Dec. 21. This event is a chance for Converse County kiddos to, as the name of the event implies, shop with a cop. But, even more than that, it’s a brief glimpse into the type of community that Douglas has become.

The basis of Douglas’ Shop with a Cop program was developed in 2016, and it began — as most beautiful things do — with a simple idea from just one person.

“Secret Santa started as one individual, about eight years ago,” said Teya Hineman, the Public Information Officer for the Douglas Police Department. “He got his friends together to donate some money to the police officers of Douglas, to interact with kids around the holiday.”

Hineman said that, originally, the money from the ‘Secret Santa Fund,’ as it became known, would go towards groceries and various other “essential” expenditures. But during the program’s third year, Douglas police chief Todd Byerly asked a simple question that reverberated for years to come.

“What if we take the kids shopping?” he asked.

And thus began the Douglas Police Department Shop With a Cop program, alongside the Glenrock Police Department, the Wyoming Highway Patrol, the Douglas Volunteer Fire Department, Converse County Joint Communications, and Converse County EMS.

“That third year, 2022, Secret Santa was able to get some more donors and we were able to help about 19 kids,” Hineman shared. “It was 19 kids and seven cops and everybody loved it! The community loved it.”

The following year, the Douglas PD instituted a more formal application process. Anybody could apply; not just low-income families or families “in need.” It was open to anybody — anybody who wanted to purchase gifts, anybody who wanted to start Christmas early, anybody who wanted to shop… with a cop. The turnout for the event in 2023 was extraordinary.

“We had 97 participants last year,” Hineman said.

The Douglas Police Department Shop With a Cop allows for two children, per officer. Each child is given $100 to buy gifts. Historically, the kiddos and their cop go to Bomgaars in Douglas but, Hineman said, they might expand to other shops this year. But the rule is, the money has to stay in Douglas, with Douglas businesses.

That’s the only rule. Otherwise, Douglas’ kiddos are free to roam and shop. But, typically, something funny happens on the way to Bomgaars.

“Each child gets their $100 to buy Christmas presents,” Hineman said. “But, sure enough, those kids hardly ever buy anything for themselves. And, if they do, they’ll buy themselves one thing but then they buy something for everybody in their family to give to somebody else, which is so sweet to see.”

It’s that spirit of giving, that spirit of servanthood, that echoes throughout the community — all year ’round, but especially during the holiday season. The chance of giving back to the community is what compelled the very first person to create a ‘Secret Santa Fund’ and, since its inception, that’s exactly what it does. Not only does each child get $100 to spend, but any leftover funds go towards buying groceries for people, or taking kiddos bowling as part of the DPD’s ‘Bowling with Badges’ day.

The Secret Santa Fund has grown from being just one donation from an anonymous angel, to a whole group of people who donate what they can, when they can, all year long.

“The Secret Santa was just one person,” Hineman said. “But now, it’s this big secret entity because it’s made up of so many community donors. It’s to the point, now, where a person can call or walk into Converse County Bank any day, any month, and all they have to say is, ‘I want to donate to the Secret Santa Fund,’ and they’ll know exactly what the person is talking about.”

Douglas is a small community. For all intents and purposes, everybody knows everybody else and, for the most part, everybody wants to help everybody else, if and when the opportunity arises. The Secret Santa Fund and the Shop with a Cop event are just two examples of that.

For the kids’ sake, Shop with a Cop is a chance to put officers’ faces to their names…or badge numbers, as it were. It’s a chance for them to see the human beings behind the badges so that they’re not afraid of the police. For these kids, Shop with a Cop is a chance to spend time with, and learn more about, the police officers that make up the DPD.

For the officers, themselves, it’s a chance to prove that they don’t just want to see people on their worst day. They want to be a part of the happy days, too. They want to smile with the community’s kiddos; they want to laugh, they want to play, they want to experience the power and the magic of Christmas just like the children do.

For the community of Douglas, as a whole, Secret Santa and Shop with a Cop is an opportunity to prove, yet again, that they are neighbors taking care of neighbors. Shop with a Cop isn’t just another afternoon of work for the officers. It’s not just another day for the kids. It’s an entire experience. And it’s the perfect way to usher in the Christmas season.

“Last year, each kid got their $100 from Secret Santa,” Hineman shared. “Then, they went and they bought their gifts — usually for other people. Then, we bussed them over to the Boys and Girls Club, where they wrapped their presents. And they built gingerbread houses and played games. We served them a good lunch. And the Boys and Girls Club actually had money from the First Lady’s Hunger Initiative, so we were able to send the kids home with baskets of food for Christmas dinner, as well as a few other ingredients for two or three other meals. And the kids went home, I’m assuming, exhausted because they spent about three hours shopping and wrapping and playing and eating.”

Shop with a Cop is an adventure. It’s an afternoon to remember. It’s a Christmas Story, that’s all. It’s an opportunity for the Douglas Police Department and the various other agencies who participate, to give back to the community that they serve in a truly special way.

“These are the kinds of things that everybody should experience,” Hineman said. “The stories that come from these kids are the things that keep us going. It’s just…the spirit of giving will never go away. You see it in these kids. You can see just how inherent it is to be kind.”

Those interested in participating in the Douglas Police Department Shop with a Cop program have until Monday, Nov. 25 at 11:59 p.m. to submit their applications, which they can do here.