Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Brewton Police Department recently held their annual Shop with a Cop event at the Brewton Wal-Mart location.

This was the fourth year that the BPD has hosted the event.

“The kids come into Wal-Mart with us and we provide the money. It gives them one on one time with an officer without a parent. We get to interact with them and they get to see who we are behind the uniform. They get to see us as people. The interaction helps them to know that they do not have to be afraid of an officer and we get to also provide for some less fortunate kids,” said Officer Brock Holt of the BPD.

With the portrayal that police often get today, it gives the officers a chance to show children that they are here to serve and protect and that they can trust their local police department.

The officers served around 15 local area children during the event.

Officers loaded shopping carts with clothes and toys that the children picked out for themselves.

Each officer was given $100 to spend on each child.

“It’s a successful and important outreach for us and it gets bigger and better every year and each officer and child enjoys it,” Holt said.