City of Austin
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Members of Amigos en Azul will host the 20th annual Shop with a Cop from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, December 11, 2021, at the Capital Plaza Target located at 5621 North IH-35. This year, roughly 60 children from Barrington and Pickle Elementary Schools were chosen to participate.
Amigos en Azul will hold the 4th annual Shop with a Cop from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Southpark Meadows Target located at 9500 S. IH-35. This year, roughly 90 children from Pleasant Hill, Widen and Odom elementary schools were chosen to participate.
Due to the pandemic again this year, the kids will not be paired up with officers. Instead, parents will be with them and they will have the option of going into the store and shopping or going home to shop online.
During the holidays, Amigos en Azul provides disadvantaged students from area elementary schools the opportunity to shop for themselves or their family members. The Shop with a Cop program creates a positive environment in which elementary school students can socialize with officers and reinforce the fact that police officers are friends in the community.
Other organizations participating and assisting in this program include Target stores, Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Cops for Charities (C4C), Austin Police Women’s Association (APWA), St. Chubby Golf Classic, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Velocity Credit Union, Shopcore Properties, the Crystal Horton Group, Gatti Town Pizza, Odom Elementary honors Nancy Mutscher and Small Acts of Kindness.
Amigos en Azul, or "Friends in Blue," was founded in 1982 to better bridge the gap between the Hispanic community and the Austin Police Department. Every year they:
- Award scholarships to area high school students
- Encourage recruitment of youth into law enforcement careers and provide a progressive image with which they can identify
- Stimulate by word and deed a more positive identification with law enforcement on behalf of the entire Austin community
- Improve the lines of communication between Spanish speaking people in the community and law enforcement.
- Involved in the established police-community relation programs with the Austin community in adherence to Austin Police Department policies.
- Volunteer in the community conducting outreach programs and crime prevention
Media advisory: Along with a participant in the program, officers will be available for comment at 11 a.m. at the Target store.