COVINGTON, Ga. - The Covington Police Department hosted its 45th annual ”Shop with a Cop” Thursday afternoon at the Walmart on Industrial Boulevard.

The Covington holiday tradition gave 23 children from the Newton County Department of Family and Children Services an opportunity to shop with Covington police officers and troopers from the Georgia State Patrol with $150 Walmart gift cards provided by Covington Police Who Care.

The annual event was started by now-retired Covington Police Officer Frank Hilton who raised more than $1,000 in 1974 from local businesses to provide gifts and a Christmas dinner for 156 children. The inaugural event even included Santa Claus arriving in a police car with its blue lights flashing.

 Hilton, 85, said he’s amazed how Shop with a Cop has grown through the years.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “I thought when I retired in 1998 that I wouldn’t see it anymore, that they’d probably just drop it. But they didn’t thanks to Captain (Ken) Malcom and Craig Treadwell. They kept it going. And each year they keep adding a little bit more and a little bit more.I can’t thank them enough.”