A moment of contentment. A flash of panic. Then a grave realization that your child is no longer at your heel. A wild-eyed look has to calm down into a focused plan to find your child. The ripples of alarm with the flash backtracking to spots your child was do not need to happen and County of San Diego Sheriff Lieutenant Edwin Brock hopes to ensure that families remain safe in the future.
A moment of contentment. A flash of panic. Then a grave realization that your child is no longer at your heel. A wild-eyed look has to calm down into a focused plan to find your child. The ripples of alarm with the flash backtracking to spots your child was do not need to happen and County of San Diego Sheriff Lieutenant Edwin Brock hopes to ensure that families remain safe in the future.
Brock along with elected representatives from the San Diego Sheriffs office, Lemon Grove firefighters, and community agencies presented helpful tips at the Operation Safe Summer for Kids Meeting held July 13.
Sponsored by Thrive Lemon Grove, the event provided parents with no-cost child identification kits, instructions on how to identify sex offenders and remove crime from the local neighborhoods. Operation Safe Summer also highlighted the availability of community resources and the members entrusted to provide protection to residents of Lemon Grove.
“Live a little wiser,” said Brock. “Know where your children are and what they are up to.”
Brock also discussed Internet safety, Megan’s Law, tips for tracking your child during the summer, and tips on how to tell if your kids are using drugs at the event.
“I liked the GPS tracking tip,” said mom Brittany Brungardt, who along with son, Joshua, 7, not only picked up tips but had her son participate in the onsite kid identification and fingerprinting available to attendees. AT&T offers a small sized GPS sticker to attach to kids’ backpacks, phones, or clothing that allows parents to track where their children’s locations from their mobile phone.
“You can even do your evacuation plan in crayon,” Lemon Grove Fire Captain Matt Pepin emphasized to the estimated crowd of 50. Having a pre-ordained evacuation plan, smoke alarms in every bedroom among other rooms, and have a smoke extinguisher were also “bullet points” the Pepin shared with safety-conscious parents.
Kids lined up to get fingerprinted for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Child Identification card. The card also contained a section to tape the child’s hair sample for a DNA match if needed. The sample was to contain at least ten hairs with the root and follicle attached. Of note on the ID card was a section mainly geared towards youth – braces-a key ID point to address for identifying a youth.
Thrive Lemon Grove is a brand new community group interested in improving neighborhoods, public safety, and the economy of Lemon Grove.
“Keeping kids safe can be challenging for families, especially during the summer,” said Councilwoman Vasquez. “This is the time we see an increase in unsafe behaviors and activities involving kids. I’m thankful that our community leaders have teamed up to share important tips with families so that we can keep our kids safe.”
That safety also included an introduction to a time honored forest fire hero—Smokey the Bear.
