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The toy aisles of Walmart were crowded with law enforcement of all sorts Saturday morning for the annual Shop with the Cops event.<\/p>\n
The event is sponsored by the Montezuma-Cortez High School government class, and aims to help low-income families buy presents for their kids while also building trust with officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe community gets together \u2013 law enforcement, schools \u2013 and just treats the kids to something extra,\u201d said Jessica Marlman with the Colorado State Patrol.<\/p>\n
This year, the crew gathered at J. Fargo\u2019s for breakfast, before taking off in a blaring procession of patrol cars down the hill to Walmart.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good way to pay it back to the community, and help out the youth,\u201d said Steven King with the Cortez Police Department. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helen Higgins was there to shop with the cops, alongside her daughter and granddaughter. She said she is excited to see the look on her granddaughter\u2019s face when she opened her presents on Christmas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very thankful for a lot of things in our family,\u201d Higgins said.<\/p>\n
Chris Kelley, who teaches the M-CHS government class, thanked all those involved in making the event happen: J-Fargo\u2019s, participating law enforcement officers, Mark Drudge with the Cortez Retail Enhancement Association, Evalena Russell and the Salvation Army, and the government class.<\/p>\n