Operation Save Santa partners EPS officers with families to spread holiday cheer
CTV
Police had some extra special help Saturday morning solving a Christmas case at West Edmonton Mall.
Police had some extra special help Saturday morning solving a Christmas case at West Edmonton Mall.
A group of kids gathered by the Edmonton Police Foundation (EPF) and Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society were expecting to meet Santa at a breakfast to find the Grinch had taken him away.
Paired up with officers, the children became investigators, followed clues and searched the mall while locating presents along the way at stores like Build A Bear, It'Sugar and Simons.
Police Chief Dale McFee explained the event helps bring Christmas cheer to families in need.
"[The day] started with a heavy assignment: the Grinch had kidnapped Santa," McFee said with a smile.
"We had a bunch of young kids," he added, "they worked their tails off going store to store, clues, the excitement. Just seeing the smiles on their faces and then actually seeing it come together at the end with Santa, it's heartwarming."
After locating the Grinch, police and their junior constables took a restorative approach by getting him to apologize for trying to spoil Christmas.
