CRESTVIEW — Parents out shopping Saturday can add a child safety kit to their list.
Community Policing officers will be at Ace Hardware from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to provide free child safety materials.
Officer Wanda Hulion and Sgt. Al Humphries will help parents complete the kits, which include their children's fingerprints and, if they desire, a DNA sample.
The Crestview Police Department does not keep children's sensitive information on file, Hulion said.
"It's strictly for parents' records," she said. "… I tell people I hope they take it home and put it up and in 20 years you take it out and have a good laugh over it because you didn't need it."
If there is an emergency, such as an accident or kidnapping, producing the kit's information will help public safety officers treat or search for the child more effectively, she said.
Hulion said a limited number of free children's bike helmets will be distributed. Officers will also assist parents in properly fitting bicycle helmets on their children's heads.
Safety materials including kids' coloring books and parent information literature will also be available, Hulion said.
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: Crestview Police child safety awareness
WHEN:10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today
WHERE: Ace Hardware, 702 N. Ferdon Blvd., Crestview
NOTES: Free child ID kits and fingerprinting services, limited number of free bicycle helmets and child safety literature.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Child safety awareness takes focus Saturday in Crestview