Turlock Police and Fire hosted their 9th Annual Public Safety Open House on Oct. 24 at the Turlock fire department. The community was welcome to attend and enjoy facility tours, free prizes and games, SWAT and fire demonstrations and a free barbecue lunch.
Local companies and nonprofit organizations were invited to have a table at the open house to teach others about their purpose. California State University, Stanislaus (Stan State) student volunteers who are majoring in Criminal Justice were involved by providing information to the community during the open house.
“The plan throughout the day is for families and kids to come out and see what is available for them in the city of Turlock and see what their police and fire department is doing for them, how we train and equipment we utilize,” Turlock Police Special Operations Captain Nino Amirfar said.
Local Turlock businesses and safety organizations such as Jessica’s house, Turlock Irrigation District, Turlock Animal Shelter and Special Victims Program provided informational booths during the open house. Children were offered a bag to fill with candy for providing correct answers to questions regarding fire, electrical or personal safety.
The Turlock Swat Team opened up their Command Vehicle in order to show individuals how their equipment works to help in high risk situations. The Command Vehicle serves as place for special reaction team members to operate further away from the location of an emergency and help their team that is closer to the suspect. The vehicle can be described as a “portable office,” offering accessible equipment and computer programs that they will need.
They also demonstrated how they talk to suspects of a home hostage on their phone that they provide the suspect. The equipment they have allows the team to talk to the suspect from inside while creating a plan of alleviation.
“If something major happens in the community, you could actually move your office and you would have everything you need,” Captain Amirfar said.
Downstairs and upstairs facility tours of the Public Safety Facility were given during the open house as well. They showed areas such as holding cells, detectives, and dispatch centers.
The Public Safety Open House not only informed the community of actions to take during a crisis, but showed the hard work and dedication our town’s public safety officers put forth toward keeping Turlock safe.
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Turlock Police Department opens up their SWAT team vehicles in order to show the community what kind of equipment they use during high risk situations.
Photo by Haylee Crews'
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Each table on display at the public safety open house is designed to inform the community about Special Victims Programs, fire safety, animal safety and electrical safety.
Photo by Haylee Crews'
