Columbia police buy toys for local kids

Columbia police spread holiday cheer for students in Columbia Saturday morning.

Members of the Columbia Police Officers Association took kids holiday shopping as part of the annual Shop with a Cop event.

The kids picked out toys and gifts for themselves and for others, and the officers pay for the gifts out of their own pocket.

Columbia Public Schools has partnered with the CPOA and provides a list of students it thinks would benefit the most from the program.

There were about 20 children at the event which took place at Target.

Some members said the kids were extremely generous.

“One of the kids exceeded his spending amount so one kid gave some of his money to him,” said Dale Roberts, executive director of CPOA.

One girl said she bought toys for herself and also a present for her cousin. She said after hanging out with her officer, the event changed the way she thought of local police.

“I never knew a cop could actually do that,” said Maurina Clark, a West Blvd Elementary student. “He’s nice, I made new friends and I liked it.”

CPOA credits much of its success with the program to support from Columbia police and Chief Ken Burton.