In June, the Urbana Police Division hosted 30 students in two classes as part of the 2016 Urbana Police Division Safety Town.
Safety Town is located in Melvin Miller Park. The two classes were taught by Urbana Police Officers Todd Pratt and Jason Kizer, who were assisted by many organizations including:
•Champaign County Job and Family Services/Children’s Services
•Urbana Fire Division – fire safety
•Urbana city pool – water safety
•Urbana City Schools Transportation Department – bus safety
•CareFlight helicopter
•Columbia Gas – utility dangers
•Champaign County Municipal Court – victim advocate dog
Throughout the week, students received instruction on many personal safety topics including stranger danger/good touch-bad touch, rules of the road for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians, school bus safety and fire dangers.
Each class lasted one week and culminated with graduation ceremonies on Fridays, June 10 and June 17. Graduation attendees included Chief Matt Lingrell, Lt. Seth King, Officers Pratt and Kizer, as well as UPD Mascot Officer Stanley. During the ceremonies, various program sponsors were recognized including the two local State Farm Agencies of Ron Burns and Erin Patton, as well as John Titus, representing the Alicia Titus Peace Memorial organization.
Each graduate received a safety bag filled with memorabilia, class photos, certificates and safety items. The graduation celebration ended with cupcakes, cookies and fruit punch for participants, families and officers.
“Officers Pratt and Kizer are perfect representatives of the police division in their roles as youth mentors and they put in a lot of time preparing for the success of Safety Town each year,” Lingrell stated. “We are already looking forward to next year’s classes.”