PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT

December 3, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact Information: PolicePRUnit@slcgov.com

SLCPD Police Pay-it-Forward Program Spreads Holiday Spirit

SALT LAKE CITY — Today, the Salt Lake City Police Department hosted its annual Holiday Police Pay-it-Forward event.

“For some children, they spend hours, days or even weeks making their holiday wish list. But for some, those wishes may not come true and that’s where our Pay-it-Forward program steps in,” said Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown. “This is what community engagement is all about – coming together, building trust, strengthening relationships, and most importantly – having fun.”

The Salt Lake Police Department worked with the Salt Lake City School District, which chose 50 children and paired each student with a police officer to eat breakfast and shop for the upcoming holidays.

Along with the SLCPD, officers from Utah Transit Authority (UTA) Police Department, University of Utah Police Department, and U.S. Federal Reserve Police participated.

 The Little America Hotel donated and hosted breakfast for students and officers.

After breakfast, the children rode in the passenger seat of their officer’s police car as part of a police escort led by the SLCPD SWAT Team, complete with lights and sirens through downtown.

Before making their way into Target, the children watched Santa make a surprise landing provided by AirLife Utah.

The children also received a backpack filled with school supplies, donated by Essendant.

The SLCPD Police Pay-it-Forward program provides school-aged children with the opportunity to partner with a police officer to shop for school supplies in August and holiday gifts in December. Funds for the program are collected through donations from the Salt Lake City Police Foundation, SLCPD employees members, as well as community organizations and businesses. We would like to thank our SLCPD professional staff, SLCPD Police Explorers and the following organizations for their continued support of this holiday event: Salt Lake City Police Foundation, Salt Lake City Police Mutual Aid Association (PMAA), Salt Lake City School District, Target, Marathon Petroleum Company, Little America and Essendant.

Several photos and three soundbites from SLCPD Detective DorthyRose Hadlock are being sent privately to media. All photos used by media should be properly attributed to the Salt Lake City Police Department.

Media that does not receive a copy of the share file by 12:30 p.m. MT December 3, 2022, should email PolicePRUnit@slcgov.com.

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