All too often police officers get a bad rap. When crime occurs, citizens are quick to say things like, “You can never find a police officer when you need one.”

And when they nab us for speeding, we’re all quick to think, “Don’t they have something better to do, like catch real criminals?”

The men and women in blue are certainly not perfect — and neither are the speed demons.

But last weekend, a group of Natchez Police Officers participated in a pretty cool event that has been going on in the community for more than two decades — Santa Cop shopping day.

The Natchez chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police coordinates the event and raises money from local businesses and other donors.

The premise is simple: Help provide some Christmas cheer for needy children in the area.

This year approximately 30 local children had a free breakfast from McDonald’s and a shopping trip to Walmart thanks to the kindness of strangers and the helping hands of our law enforcement officers.

That’s a great thing to see at Christmas.

An unspoken, but very real, side benefit of the event is letting the children see that police officers are not the bad guys. They’re there to help us.

And that’s an easy lesson to learn for children, and one the 45-year-old caught speeding is quick to forget.