Blue Santas give back to community

Members of the Colorado Police Department went shopping Tuesday evening for gifts for children who will benefit from the department’s first Blue Santa event, a nation-wide program to help children less fortunate than others.

“We’ve completed a list of several families and bought specific gifts based on their wants and needs,” said Ron Dooley, chief of police.

Names were submitted from a variety of sources, including call ins, the school nurse, other outside sources and individual officers who observed needs while responding to calls.

“We had a great turnout from individuals donating cash and toys,” said Dooley. “One hundred percent of the monetary donations goes to gifts for children this year.”

The police department will continue to take donations for the program until December 18th.
“It’s a way officers can give back to the community,” said Dooley.

Sometimes, due to the nature of the job, officers are seen in a negative light by children when officers must arrest parents in the course of an investigation or because of domestic disturbances.

“Blue Santa provides a way so when the police car pulls up, the kids can say mentally, ‘it’s not always bad when the police show up,’” Dooley said.