... there’s something special about each kid that I’ve had ... and just to be able to be a part of their life at that moment is really just a blast for me.”

Powell Police Lt. Matt McCaslin

The Cody Walmart was filled with law enforcement officers Wednesday evening, but there was no emergency: Officers from eight different agencies were at the store to help guide 26 local children on a Christmas shopping spree.

Thanks to the generosity of donors, each kid received at least $300 which they could spend on gifts for themselves and also their family members. The youth roamed the aisles with their assigned officer and a Walmart assistant, loading up carts with everything from Nerf guns and Barbie dolls to car cleaning supplies and candles for parents.

The event was the 13th annual “Shop with a Cop” event in Cody. Participants included the Park and Big Horn county sheriff’s offices, the Powell, Cody and Lovell police departments, the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

“It allows some of these kids that potentially wouldn’t have gifts under the Christmas tree to not only have gifts …, but to shop for them themselves, and to see law enforcement in a positive light while doing it,” said organizer Rodney Miears, whose day job is with the patrol.

Powell Police Lt. Matt McCaslin, who’s been a regular “Shop with a Cop” participant, recalled being paired with a girl years ago who started the evening afraid of police officers.

But on the drive back to Powell, “she kind of did the fist pump motion and said, ‘Best day ever!’” McCaslin recalled. “And it’s those kinds of things that keep you going and make you come back year after year.”

In fact, he feels like he may get more out of each event than the youth.

“... there’s something special about each kid that I’ve had,” McCaslin said, “and just to be able to be a part of their life at that moment is really just a blast for me.”

For example, McCaslin said the boy he teamed with on Wednesday took care to get something for each of his family members before shopping for himself.

Officers typically shuttle the youth to and from the store in their patrol cars, and “seeing the kids’ eyes light up when they’re able to sit in the front seat and see the light switches and the radio, it’s a pretty surreal moment for a lot of the officers,” Miears said.

In McCaslin’s case, he and his young partner spent Wednesday’s drive to Cody and back to Powell singing along to “good old country Christmas songs.”

“The singing on my end was maybe not that great, but it was fun,” McCaslin said.

While the event comes just once a year and lasts for just a few hours, Miears said the bond between the children and officers often lasts much longer. For example, he’s still in touch with the kid he took shopping at Cody’s inaugural event. And when McCaslin visits Powell schools, he sometimes sees the children he’s partnered with in years’ past and gets a high five or a hug.

“... it just kind of does your heart good,” he said.

Another Cody officer decided to get together with his “Shop with a Cop” child every Christmas — taking the youth on additional shopping sprees on his own dime for six or seven straight years, Miears said.

In the run-up to Wednesday’s event, donors were especially generous, which Miears credits to a growing awareness of the event and an appreciation of its importance.

He said the contributors ranged from nonprofits like the Wyoming Highway Patrol Association and Walleyes Unlimited to Cody businesses like Walmart, AC Millworks, Groathouse Construction and Papa Murphy’s to City of Cody personnel and a few private donors.

When it started in 2012, the Cody event was the first of its kind in Wyoming, but “Shop with a Cop” has since spread to communities around the state.

“It’s been a long go,” Miears said, “and it’s pretty cool to see the spirit of the event and the officers and the kids still wanting to participate, willing to participate — and their eyes light up when it happens.”