A week before Christmas, police in one Bronx precinct gave gifts that they hope will keep on giving. NY1's Erin Clarke filed the following report.

Officers traded their police uniforms for elf costumes to welcome thousands of kids into the 47th Precinct stationhouse for a gift.

For some of these children, it's the only Christmas gift they'll get.

"It feels good because I get to get toys because my mom said I can't get presents because we have to pay the bills and stuff," said one child.

It was the 47th Precinct's second annual toy giveaway.

"The kids came here last year and they loved it. They talked about it forever," said one parent.

Last year, 1,000 kids came. Friday, 5,000 showed up.

"This year, for some reason, we have more people in need," said Elizabeth Gill, president of the 47th Precinct Community Council.

Parents and children were overwhelmed by the kindness of police officers..

"It's wonderful," said one parent. "It has me, like, shaken up a little bit."

"It's good because it also let the community know it's not about just people getting arrested and bad things," said another parent.

It is events like this that police say that have made this community safer. Although the precinct has seen an uptick in thefts, the violence is down.

"Minus the increase or the spike in grand larceny, we would be down in crime," said Inspector Ruel Stephenson, commanding officer of the 47th Precinct. "We're down in shooting incidents, which last year was really one of our major focus."

When Stephenson became precinct commander two years ago, he moved to improve community relations with events like a backpack giveaway. Police here now make it their business to get to know residents.

"Our neighbor-police model is first to build that relationship, to be able to build that trust and that bridge to see common grounds on what we police want as well as what the community wants, which is a safer community," Stephenson said.

Residents said it's made a difference.

"A lot of the community, they'll feel more comfortable in even coming in here and saying how they feel, even if they have to report something," said one resident.

Building a better community one smile at a time.