Police, fire put efforts together for safety event
Naperville's police and fire departments long have celebrated their annual safety campaigns separately but during the same month.
This year, the two departments are teaming up for an all-encompassing public safety extravaganza.
"This is one-stop shopping for prevention education," said Mary Browning, a police department crime prevention specialist. "This isn't going to be two separate things, it's one big event that will be more powerful for the residents who participate."
The city's public safety open house will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Safety Town campus near the intersection of Aurora Avenue and River Road.
"It's a whole comprehensive safety day," said Soraya McLaughlin, the fire department's public education specialist. "We knew they (the police) had their thing going on so we got together and decided to do it all in one place."
The event will feature a number of educational activities for children and several demonstrations from both departments.
One of the bigger events is the fire department vehicle extrication demonstration that also will feature a helicopter landing and mock DUI arrest by police officers.
That demonstration begins around 11 a.m. with the helicopter likely arriving around 11:30 a.m., McLaughlin said.
"We wanted to show how closely the departments work together," she said.
For police, the open house is also an opportunity to show off the department's array of vehicles.
"Very few people get to see these vehicles, so we really want to show the citizens what they do and what we provide for them," Browning said.
Both McLaughlin and Browning believe combining the two events will make a greater impact on participating residents.
"Both departments basically have the same mission of protecting and serving," Browning said. "This is just something we like to call 'partnering for prevention.'"
McLaughlin said one of the new initiatives the department is promoting at this year's event is the "Adopt-a-Hydrant" program, where residents can sponsor a fire hydrant in their neighborhood and take responsibility for clearing snow from around it in the winter.
"We have over 8,000 hydrants in the city," she said.
If you go
Some of the events at Naperville's Public Safety Open House that runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Safety Town:
• Auto extrication, helicopter landing and mock DUI arrest
• DUI obstacle course
• Fire Extinguisher demo
• Flash fire demo
• Children's fire and police challenges
• Police and fire vehicles on display
• Bicycle registration
• Adopt-a-Hydrant registration