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SOUTH JORDAN — The click of the camera and smiling faces are common sights and sounds in PicCouture photo studios in South Jordan, but on Monday the customers wore badges.
"He called me and said, 'Hey, what can we do to give back to police officers?' I said, 'What about free pictures?'" Devin Johnson said.
Devin Johnson lost his brother, Draper Police Sgt. Derek Johnson, in a police shooting last fall. He says after Derek's death, he found comfort looking at all the photos left behind.
Johnson family friend and PicCouture studio owner Jarrod Clarke jumped at the chance to help other law enforcement families.
"As a business owner, you have to give back to the community," Clarke said. "I couldn't think of a better way to give back to the community."
A Salt Lake City police officer, who asked to be identified simply as Scott, agrees.
"To get family pictures this nice of quality is really kind of out of our price range," Scott said. "It's so nice for them to allow us to come down and do this for free."
The pictures mean a lot to Scott's wife, who knows just how dangerous her husband's job is.
"You just never know what's going to happen," she said. "It's just so nice to have these pictures in case something ever did happen."
Watching the families go through their free photo sessions brought a smile to Devin Johnson's face.
"When something bad happens, you have two choices: You can pick to wallow in your sorrow, or you can choose to make the best of your situation," he said. "I'm choosing to make the best of this situation."
The free photo sessions will go on all week as part of Police Officer Appreciation Week. Law enforcement families interested in taking advantage of the free offer can call 801-495-4247 to schedule an appointment.
Next year, Clarke says his company will look into opening it up the service to more emergency responders and their families.
