Oliver Shaw walked briskly into the Parade room and stopped short. Where normally he would see groups of officers chatting, teasing, laughing, reading the newspaper, or trying hard to stay awake, on this particular morning he was greeted by a sea of faces, turned expectantly towards him. It was so quiet he could hardly believe that these were indeed the officers and detectives of 15.
"What's going on here, people? Did somebody die?" he demanded.
The silence gave way to an excited babble combined with a deeper rumbling, with everyone trying to get his attention to offer a suggestion or to ask a question.
"All right, all right, all right, enough! Quiet!" he bellowed, and the din subsided gradually to the point where he thought he might be heard. "What's gotten into you guys this morning – over-caffeinated? Somebody spiked the water fountains with some form of stimulant? C'mon, people, get me into the loop!"
"It's your Cop Shop idea," Chloe burbled happily. "We're all really excited about it and we want to start planning so we can make it happen here in Toronto."
There were nods of agreement and some subdued chatter all over the room, but everyone was still paying close attention to Oliver.
"We really can't start on this right now, boys and girls – there are criminals stalking our streets and inattentive drivers creating havoc on our roads. Plenty of time to discuss this later," Oliver replied. "Get out there and do a good job, and when you come back at the end of shift we'll talk Cop Shop."
The officers looked disappointed but made their way to their assignments for the day. Andy and Chris were supposed to monitor vehicle traffic in school zones; there had recently been a serious incident when a kid was hit by a driver who was both breaking the reduced limit in the school zone, and texting. Oliver had decided it was time to give drivers a refresher course in sign reading and proactive driving. They parked their car around the corner from an elementary school, sipped at the coffee they had picked up on their way, and chatted about the shopping project.
"Like Oliver said, the event includes picking the kids up, transporting them to the mall, feeding them, and of course the main event, the shopping spree - every kid gets a $200 gift card donated by the mall," Chris offered.
"How do they pick the kids to participate?" Andy asked curiously.
"I guess there's different ways, but mostly they are chosen based on their community volunteer efforts, academic achievements, and need," Chris responded. "It must be pretty tough to choose, especially in some areas of the city."
"I'm sure. And how exactly do we participate?"
"Each of us will be partnered with one or two kids. We pick them up at their school, get them to the mall at 9:30 a.m., and spend two hours shopping. The gift cards are good for any of the mall's stores," Chris said. "Apparently in Winnipeg some of the kids have never been to the shopping centre that sponsors the event. I heard that one year a kid wanted to use a good part of his gift card for Kraft Dinner, because his family needed food. Now the two grocery stores in the mall actually put some food items right in the bags the kids get to take home."
Andy shook her head. "I really hate to think about how many kids there are who go to bed hungry and wake up hungry – how are they supposed to learn anything?"
"I know," Chris agreed. "But there's lots of food on this trip. They get breakfast, and a pizza lunch donated by vendors in the mall. So do we!"
"It really is a great idea," Andy said thoughtfully. "Too many kids, especially in the inner city, see us as the enemy. This would give them the chance to meet us in positive surroundings, having fun with them, instead of times like a parent being arrested – or worse, having to make a death announcement. The kids could see us and realize that we are just like them, just members of the community too."
"Right," Chris replied. "There's a huge difference if we take them shopping all day, and enjoy lunch with them, instead of having to take them to the hospital or Child and Family Services or wherever. Cop Shop Day is just all fun, all smiles."
"Yeah," Andy added, "We'd get to know them, and they'd get to know us on a different level."
"Oh, I forgot," Chris exclaimed excitedly, "The kids get to see Santa, and he or his elves give them each a stocking full of surprise treats."
Andy tried to hide her smile. Chris really was just a big kid.
The day passed very, very slowly – apparently the drivers in their area were actually paying attention, which was a nice change. As the end of their shift approached they headed back to 15. When they got inside they found their fellow officers, some already showered and changed, some still in uniform, all waiting expectantly for Oliver to join them.
"OK, people, it's good to see you all here – let's get right down to it. I'm sure most of you managed to squeeze out a few seconds during your day to do an online search, so you know the underlying concept," he began. "We get the schools to pick the kids, using the criteria of grades, community volunteering, and need. I reached out to the two closest malls to see if they'd be interested, and they were both very enthusiastic. So the basic parts of the program are covered. We'll have a sign-up sheet to see who's interested in participating, and proceed from there."
With the project seemingly in good hands and underway, the room cleared out pretty quickly. Andy headed for the Ds' office where she found Sam just finishing tidying his desk, ready to leave.
"It looks like this is really going to happen," she reported. "I think it's going to be a great project for us."
"I haven't heard whether we'll get a chance to participate," Sam began. "So far it looks like maybe only uniforms will be involved."
"Maybe somebody in the detective department needs to let our Staff Sergeant know that you guys want to be part of it too," Andy offered. "You still want to, don't you?" Her expression radiated hope mixed with apprehension.
"This really is important to you, isn't it?" he asked gently.
"It is," she answered quickly. "I think this is just what we need, to replace the bad memories we both have with new, happy ones."
"Don't worry about it, McNally," Sam responded, "from everything I've heard about it, I think it really could go a long way to making me appreciate Christmas. It's definitely worth trying."
"Great!" Andy said happily. "Now let's get out of here."
"You wanna go straight home, or stop at The Penny for a quick one?" Sam asked as he shrugged into his jacket.
"I don't mind stopping at The Penny, but let's not stay too long," Andy answered.
"Right," Sam agreed and they headed for the parking lot.