Richmond police take students back-to-school shopping

Richmond police officers spent one-on-one time yesterday with 30 needy children shopping for back-to-school clothing -- talking, laughing and making friends with the youngsters.

Yesterday's outing was the second of three Shop with a Cop trips undertaken yearly in partnership with YMCA's Bright Beginnings program. Each child had $100 to spend on clothing at the Target on Forest Hill Avenue.

So far this month, Bright Beginnings has funded 75 shopping trips for children in kindergarten through fifth grade in the Richmond area, Petersburg, and Goochland and Powhatan counties, said Tito Luna, vice president of community development and programs for the YMCA. The program expects to serve 2,400 children, he said. Since its inception in 1992, Bright Beginnings has helped about 25,000 children, he said.

Police recruit the children for Shop with a Cop from the communities they patrol. Altria Group pays for those shopping trips, he said.

Sgt. Carol Adams has participated in the program for 11 years, she said.

She was paired at the Target store with a girl from Jackson Ward, an area that she patrols. She smiled back as the girl's face lit up when she put on a yellow dress -- her favorite color -- for a quick fit.

To select the children for Shop with a Cop, officers have to get to know the families because the aim is to help children who are most in need, Adams said.

"And that's good. You need to do that," she said. "You create a positive environment not just with the children, but also the entire family."

Children will remember the experience of shopping with a police officer, Adams said.

"Nobody can take away the experience that 'I had with Ms. Carol'," she said.

Commander Steve Drew from the 2nd Precinct spent about 45 minutes shopping with a little boy. He bought two shirts, a hooded sweatshirt, two pairs of pants, socks, underwear and tennis shoes.

"You're good to be hooked up," he told the boy as they were in the checkout line.

"Did you have a good time?" he asked the child. The child, who was hanging from the shopping cart, nodded a yes. "I'm going to give you my card and you can call me and we'll go out to lunch."

Drew said that shopping with the children projects a friendlier image in the community, especially to parents.

"You send a different message to families where they can say, 'They're here not just to arrest people.' We care about the community."

Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or .