Police department Christmas programs kick off

Santa Claus will make an early visit to Portales on Dec. 16 to hand out presents, but he can't do it without a little help.

He needs more than just elves: He has volunteers wrapping presents and baking cookies for the children, the Portales Police Department accepting monetary and toy donations, and one lucky officer putting on his suit.

It's all part of operation Santa Cop, a free event described as "a way to give needy children or children (ages up to 17) who may not have a big Christmas a gift from Santa Claus," according to Police Sgt. Eric Muller, the event's organizer.

Clovis cops help kids, too

The Clovis Police Department has a similar program. Its Cops and Kids Christmas is at Leal's Restaurant, 2115 N. Prince St., from 5-9 p.m. on Dec. 6, according to a press release from CPD.

The deadline to nominate a child for the program is 5 p.m. Friday. Nomination forms can be picked up at the CPD Records Division.

Donations for the event can be made out to the Fraternal Order of Police and can be accepted at the Clovis Police Department.

Toys and pictures with Santa

In Portales, children will line up to see Santa, who will hand out toys and take pictures with each child.

"What we do is, at the Memorial Building this year, on the 16th of December, we'll be hosting it from 10 o'clock in the morning to 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Parents can register their children at the Portales Police Department. They just have to give the name and the age and the gender of the child. We try to go and purchase gifts and give gifts based on age and gender," Muller said.

Toy drop-offs have been set up at Portales City Hall, the Memorial Building, Aaron's Rent to Own, Hydration Station, and Ace Hardware, he said, adding that PPD will hold a toy drive from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

'Always an enjoyable experience'

Muller has been organizing Santa Cop for three years, and has seen the community come together to give the children a special day. The Portales Junior High School student council, police officers, and even Muller's own daughter — playing one of Santa's elves — help out.

"Any time you can participate and help kids or people and stuff, it's always an enjoyable experience. A lot of (the officers) look forward to it, and they kind of set aside time or whatever," he said. "Some of them are off-duty and they come in just to see kids' smiles and interact with the kids. It's a blast."

One of those volunteers is Animal Control Officer Ben Hill, who will be assuming the role of Santa this year.

Hill initially got the honor from "being the new guy and them telling me to," but his desire to participate came from a similar experience he had as a child.

"Growing up, I had a Santa party that I went to. I grew up pretty poor, and it was probably one of the coolest experiences I had, because it was just random people giving me presents. It will just be great to see the kind of same smiles that was on my face, hopefully make somebody's Christmas good," he said.

Parents are asked to register children for Santa Cop at the Portales Police Department before Dec. 16.

— Staff writer Jamie Cushman contributed to this report.