Stevensville holds Shop With a Cop

by John Dowd

On December 6, the Stevensville Police Department held their annual Shop With a Cop event. This year, officers took 14 local youth shopping for Christmas gifts. Officers each took two youth and walked around with them in the Walmart on Brooks in Missoula, with a set amount of money. 

Stevensville Police Chief John Boe wanted to thank all involved with making the 2025 Shop With a Cop a reality and a huge success. He was thankful to the Montana Highway Patrol, the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office, the Darby Police, and he added, “We are extremely appreciative to these other agencies for helping us with this event.”

He especially wanted to thank Dave and Mari Laursen for their support as well as Kristin Kruse, all of whom he said were a huge part of it.

“These things keep getting bigger and better every year,” said Boe, and this support is a big part of that.

Speaking of Kruse, Boe said, “She’s just been invaluable,” and she was the one who started the program. 

Chief Boe said he and Dave Laursen have talked together about the benefit of the program. “Dave said that these young impressionable minds, it’s their first opportunity to interact with law enforcement and first responders,” said Boe. “He said this is pivotal to their personal growth and it helps them learn to look at things from a different perspective. I thought what he said had a lot of value and a lot of merit. That’s exactly what this event does.”

Boe added that what Laursen does for the community “is not even measurable.” 

He added that his officers love doing this event and they look forward to it every year. Speaking about the youth that they took shopping, Boe said, “They get to know us and we get to know them.”

The officers are always impressed with how selfless the youth are, often using their allotted funds to purchase things for their families and not only themselves. 

Boe spoke of the youth that were awarded this chance, and said, “This celebrates young people that have had a good year and they were rewarded for it.”