The night shift at the Crete Police Department had a pajama party Wednesday.
They drifted in, one by one for the monthly staff meeting, looking like they were ready to set out hot cocoa and cookies and wait for Santa.
Audrey Arbuckle dressed in a red onesie covered with moose in holiday scarves.
She was joined by four of her fellow officers and a sergeant dressed as an elf.
Police Chief Steve Hensel’s first reaction to a cop dressed as Olaf, the snowman from "Frozen," and another in puppy dog PJs with floppy ears appeared to be shock, Arbuckle said Thursday.
“But he was a very good sport, and he had a sense of humor. I think he was kind of proud of us.â€
The six-year Crete Police Department veteran and her co-worker Lavance Reed came up with the dress-up idea a month ago.
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They’d been talking about the upcoming holidays, and Arbuckle showed Reed a photo of herself and her sister dressed in matching moose PJs.
Turns out Reed had a cozy adult onesie, too.
I’ll wear mine to the December staff meeting, if you wear yours, Reed told Arbuckle.
Deal.
Reed researched department regulations on meeting attire. (There were none.)
So the pair proposed the idea of the Christmas prank to other officers on the night shift, and, after Sgt. Jon Pucket got on board with his “Elf†elf costume, the rest followed, including Colin Gaman in his Hanukkah jammies.
“It’s 100% the goofiest thing we’ve ever done,†Arbuckle said.
The chief loved it.
The monthly meeting starts small with higher-ranking staff and grows, Hensel said.
“As the officers started arriving, I noticed they were dressed interestingly.â€
The room started filling up with officers in pajamas. Night shift officer Brandon Howland -- in his dog costume -- was on the agenda to give a training presentation on high-risk traffic stops.â€
“Lt. Young started scratching him behind the ears,†Hensel said. “We couldn’t stop laughing.â€
Seems it’s the time of year for police department cheer.
Nebraska State Patrol officers filmed “A Christmas Story†soap-in-the mouth video. Fremont police officers stopped drivers for minor infractions and handed out cards and $100 bills instead of tickets. On Saturday, Lincoln Police Department officers sported Santa hats and helped children fill carts with presents at the 2019 Shop with a Cop event.
The Nebraska State Patrol dropped a video Wednesday that within an hour had thousands of views.Â
And Crete officers participated in Under the Tree, Arbuckle said, a countywide toy and clothing drive, parking a cruiser in front of Walmart and gathering enough donations to buy gifts for 600 kids and their families.
She posted a photo of the onesie-wearing cops on Twitter after the meeting -- staged with Hensel (in street clothes) and Lt. Gary Young (in uniform) looking stern and irritated -- and it got a lot of love.
She posted a second photo later with both men grinning.
“It’s nice, because this is a rough job,†Arbuckle said. “Just to make people laugh for a few hours, we needed that.â€