More than 50 children from 19 families received new toys for Christmas thanks to the officers at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Division.

Capt. Howard Leslie, of the LAPD’s Wilshire Division, joined Santa Claus in distributing toys to children at the police station. (photo by Sgt. A.J. Kirby)

The toys were distributed on Dec. 20 to families who officers from the station have met through interactions over the past year.

Sgt. A.J. Kirby, who heads the police station’s community relations section, said officers know the families are in need of help, and many personally collected presents for the children. Many of gifts were also gathered in a drop box at the police station and at a toy drive held in November by Beverly Hills BMW, in partnership with the Wilshire Division.

“They are all local families from the Wilshire Division and we put [the word] out through the detectives and the officers,” Kirby said. “In the past, we’ve always gotten a lot of toy donations from the Wilshire community, and it’s always been myself and the captain going to a house and dropping off presents without a lot of fanfare. But this year, we got the most toys ever, so we decided to bring some of the families to the station.”

Kirby said senior lead officer Geoff Taff dressed up as Santa Claus, and the kids were excited to receive the gifts.

“Every kid got three to four things, and we had around 300 to 400 toys,” Kirby added. “It’s all needed. To see the joy on the kids’ faces, it’s special.”

Kirby added that next year, the Wilshire Division plans to expand the toy drive and make the giveaway a more formal occasion.

“It’s definitely needed. With some of these families we’ve dealt with, you have seen the hardships,” Kirby added. “We don’t do this for the publicity. This is our community, and we want to see the kids happy.”