Cops & Kids
Arkansas-side police provide youth with fun and food
With temperatures already dipping below 40 degrees, Thursday evening delivered a Jack Frost-style nip in the air, but that didn’t deter participants at the 25th annual Texarkana, Ark., Cops & Kids program.
Pizza Inn on North State Line Avenue, the traditional host of this occasion for the past 24 years has closed, but that didn’t stop things from going forward, said Arkansasside Police Public Affairs Officer Kristie Bennett.
Bennett said the city, along with the Texarkana, Ark., Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association managed to secure the Four States Fairgrounds Fine Arts Center for this
year’s gathering.
“The police department decided on having it this year inside the fairground’s Fine Arts building, but it was TACPAAA that provided the games, activities, food and fun for the kids,” Bennett said.
With police and children from local orphanages, ranging in ages from 2 to 18, enjoying traditional holiday fellowship, they came streaming in together out of the cold and into the cozy, spacious art center to enjoy popcorn, slush drinks and party games.
TACPAAA President Jeff Clapp said local merchants provided the gifts and prizes for the children, in addition to some police donations, at the two-hour event.
Bennett said the idea for the event came from Arkansas-side Police Chief Bob Harrison, who decided back in 1991 to launch the program in an effort to forge a friendlier interaction between the community’s police, children and adults.
“The kids got to ride in the police cars to the fairgrounds and they even got to learn how the sirens worked,” Clapp said. “We hope this event will continue, and our association wants to support both the police department and the community in any way we can.”