LIHUE — Kmart shoppers were surprised Thursday morning by scores of Kauai police officers in the lobby. But there was no criminal activity going on. This was a Christmas party. The police officers were waiting on their shoppers to finish
LIHUE — Kmart shoppers were surprised Thursday morning by scores of Kauai police officers in the lobby.
But there was no criminal activity going on.
This was a Christmas party. The police officers were waiting on their shoppers to finish breakfast at Little Caesar’s before wheeling them through the store’s aisles in search of holiday gifts in the Shop With A Cop program.
“This is supposed to be my second day off, but I can’t miss this,” said Kauai police officer Bobby Thompson.
Rosie Carrillo, secretary for the Children’s Justice Center who retired on Dec. 1, said 50 children from different agencies were selected to participate in the program.
Kmart offers each shopper free breakfast at Little Caesar’s and a $50 gift card to spend in the store.
Each shopper is accompanied by a police officer in making their selections.
“When we get the number of children who need this experience, we simply divide it by the number of events we work with to come up with the shoppers,” Carrillo said. “We go over the list to make sure the event is appropriate.”
