Page 31 - December 2015

That first year, Cline recruited a plethora of off-duty cops, and the Op tried to hit all the houses in one day and went 13 hours in the snow before finishing the tour. After that, Operation Santa became a full-weekend event, usually two weeks before Christmas like the Dec. 12-13 dates for 2015. Every child gets a gift; toys of choice for the younger ones and gift cards for the older kids.
He passed the day after Christmas.
Mike Wolf began doing Santa as part of a food drive working with
“I always say that these families may have lost a parent, but we can remind them that they have 13,000 (parents) from the Chicago cops who will always be there for them,” Cline remarks. “Cops have real- ized they want to be part of that, so they give it their all.”
a Department Commander in the late 90s. When the Secret Service initiated its Operation Shining Star Christmas giving event, Mike and Shirley were called on to HO-HO-HO for a program that brought gifts to Chicago hospitals, battered women’s shelters and even Cabri- ni Green. Cline knew Shirley from his days assigned to narcotics, so when he set out on Operation Santa, he reached out to team Wolf.
Cline reports that many cops give gifts and contribute cash to the Op. A few years ago, Macy’s came on as a sponsor with a $10,000 annual donation to buy gifts for the families.
“We immediately went out and spent $1,000 to buy new Santa and Mrs. Claus suits,” Mike reveals. “Shirley and I get very emotional when we see the way the kids light up when we arrive. It’s hard to not let the emotions get to you, but nobody wants to see Santa cry.”
And it’s not just a drive-by and drop-off; each visit is like a Christ- mas party. Officers from the district where a family lives come out for an outdoor roll call at the house. State Police and Chicago Police cars lead a motorcade to the house.
Mike and Shirley provide a window into the gift of giving and why they keep on giving. They have retired to Prescott, Arizona but they come back for the Op each year on their own dime. Their Christmas present starts with the smiles, continues with many homemade gifts the kids present them each year and, like every other Officer who does this, it becomes personal.
“There’s a moment when we pull up when all the kids come run- ning out to hug the police officers,” Cline continued. “They see the kids smile and it just becomes a part of them. The officers who vol- unteer get so much out of it because they walk out the door feeling good.”
“We try to be as much a part of their lives as we can, and they are a part of ours,” Shirley explains. “It’s like having dozens of grandchil- dren. Mike and I have not been blessed with our own children. These are our children, and every year we come home to see our grand- kids.”
Now, it wouldn’t be unfathomable to think that at the end of the motorcade is Santa’s sleigh. But maybe this is better: Starting with the third year of the Op, the Secret Service provided use of the Pres- ident’s limousine, the back-up unit kept in Chicago. Santa and Mrs. Claus now roll up every year in the limo, and all that seems to be missing are Hardrock, Coco and Joe.
So members pull on the costumes, load up the presents and find a reason to give at every house. Cline asserts that Operation Santa also brings goodwill and cheer to the entire neighborhood at each stop, and that’s a reason cops give every day, not just Christmas.
Santa and Mrs. Claus can make us believe there is a higher power or a higher calling that prompts cops to give it up. Shirley Wolf spent 27 years with the Department assigned to gangs, narcotics and domestic violence, and she knows what the families are feeling. Shirley lost her brother, James Jobe, a Des Plaines Officer who was killed in the line of duty in 1980 when his squad car was hit by a train.
But there’s one overwhelming reason they put on the elf suits and officers come out when the Op makes a stop.
“These families have sacrificed a mother or father or loved one,” Langle says. “They have sacrificed a way of life. That’s a sacrifice we will never forget, and we will always honor it. I can’t tell you what it’s like when the kids see that Santa did not forget.”
Words probably can’t begin to describe the feeling.
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