Community and Holiday Spirit at Melbourne’s Shop With a Cop Event

At around 5 p.m. on Friday, December 19, the Walmart located at Sarno Road and Wickham Road in Melbourne, Florida became the site of a holiday community event that brought together families, children, and local law enforcement. The occasion was Brevard County’s annual Shop With a Cop program, a holiday initiative designed to support families while fostering positive connections within the community.

Hosted by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, Shop With a Cop pairs children with law enforcement officers for an evening of shopping and celebration. According to the sheriff’s office, the program aims to provide support during the holiday season while also building trust and engagement between deputies and the families they serve. More information about the program is available on the official Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Shop With a Cop page:
👉 https://www.brevardsheriff.com/bcso_events/shop-with-a-cop/

Santa Claus greeted children as deputies walked alongside families through the aisles, helping kids choose gifts and offering encouragement along the way. What is typically a busy retail environment took on a different tone for the evening, filled with holiday music, conversation, and moments of connection between officers and participants. Parents and guardians observed nearby, many capturing photos as children interacted with deputies and volunteers.

One attendee described the experience as “a great opportunity for kids to feel supported during the holidays,” adding that seeing officers engage with families in this setting helped create a sense of comfort and positivity. Another participant noted that the event was “about more than shopping,” explaining that it gave families a chance to feel included and cared for during a busy and sometimes stressful season.

During the event, I also spoke with the Deputy Chief of the Melbourne Police Department, who emphasized the importance of programs like Shop With a Cop in strengthening relationships between law enforcement and the community. The Deputy Chief noted that events like this allow officers to connect with families in a positive, informal environment and help reinforce the idea that community policing is built on presence, trust, and engagement.

Shop With a Cop is part of the sheriff’s office’s broader Community Services efforts, which include outreach programs and charitable initiatives throughout Brevard County. These initiatives focus on engagement, service, and building long-term trust across the county. Additional information about these efforts can be found through the sheriff’s office’s Community Services division:
👉 https://www.brevardsheriff.com/units-services/community-services/

Local reporting has also highlighted Shop With a Cop as a long-standing holiday tradition in Brevard County, with deputies and volunteers dedicating their time to making the season brighter for participating families. Coverage of similar events this year can be found through Space Coast Daily, which documented the program’s impact across the county:
👉 https://spacecoastdaily.com/2025/12/watch-brevard-sheriffs-office-holds-annual-shop-with-a-cop-to-provide-christmas-gifts-for-kids/

As the evening came to a close, shopping carts were filled with gifts, families gathered near checkout lines, and children posed for photos with Santa and officers before heading home. The event served as a reminder that community-focused initiatives like Shop With a Cop extend beyond holiday traditions, offering meaningful moments of connection and support during the season.

Trapped Without Shelter: How Brevard County Profits from the Pain of the Poor

Introduction: When Survival Is a Crime

You’re arrested for sleeping. Booked for existing. Fined for having nowhere to go.

I know—because I lived it.

In Brevard County, Florida, especially here in Melbourne, homelessness is not treated as a crisis to solve. It's treated as a nuisance to erase. Police target the poor, not to protect the community—but to sanitize the city for profit. And it’s working... for them.

But it’s destroying lives like mine. Like yours. Like the voiceless ones no one hears from because they’re locked up, shipped out, or buried under bureaucracy.

This is what they don’t want you to see.

The Cost of Being Homeless in Brevard County

"The Price of Poverty"

“Stripped, Starved, Hunted”: My Testimony

I was arrested for trespassing while resting near a business—because I had nowhere else to go. I was barefoot when released. My wallet was empty. I owed more money than I started with. And I was told: don’t come back here.

They expect us to "get a job." But how, when we’re not even allowed to exist?

There’s no shelter. No transportation. No water. No electricity. And the only “help” comes with religious strings attached. Faith-based shelters demand conversion. If you don’t comply—you don’t eat, don’t shower, don’t sleep inside.

This isn’t rehabilitation. It’s coercion.

And every time you’re seen again—police circle like hawks. The goal is clear: remove the visible poor so developers can sell a prettier Melbourne.

The Pattern: Who Really Benefits?

Behind the scenes, this cycle makes money:

• Police trust funds are paid with court fines and booking fees

• Private jails benefit from longer pre-trial detentions due to unpaid bail

• Religious nonprofits get tax funding while forcing participation in their faith

• Developers and politicians cash in on “cleaning up the streets”

Call to Justice

This is systemic abuse—not an accident, not isolated.

It’s time to expose the silence.

We need:

1. A federal investigation into Brevard County’s use of arrests as revenue.

2. An end to forced religious programming tied to aid.

3. A Housing First policy with real shelter options—not church pews and police cells.

4. Transparency. Public records must be opened. Every arrest, every fine, every dollar tracked.

What You Can Do

• Share this post.

• File a public records request: [link to FOIA template]

• Donate to secular aid groups serving Brevard County.

• Join the #ExposeTheSilence campaign and share your story.

You Are Not Alone

To anyone living on the street, scared of being seen, hunted by the very system sworn to protect you—you are not the problem.

You are the truth they are afraid of.

And now, we’re going to make sure the world sees it.

— Ricardo A. Stoyell
Founder, ExposetheSilence.org