Dust For Fingerprints, Meet Police Dogs

The Northern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy (NIPSTA) will hold its third annual Public Safety Awareness Day on Sept. 12. First responders and other experts will offer more than 20 activities, including interacting with police dogs,  for the general public.

The Glenview organization plans a hands-on experience, offering safety and rescue pointers as well as a behind-the-scenes look at its training facility.

"It's a fun day for families to talk with public safety providers and do something cool too," said Des Plaines Fire Chief Alan Wax.

Attendees can dust for fingerprints and watch a vehicle extrication drill. Children will get an opportunity to learn about Internet safety with their parents, operate a fire hose and practice stop, drop and roll to snuff out a clothes fire.

NIPSTA is a training facility for police officers, firefighters and public works employees. It sits on 20 acres that was part of the Glenview Naval Air Station, now called The Glen. A few of the buildings, including an airplane hangar, are now used for operations and training purposes.

Robert Lahey, the group's executive director, said Public Safety Awareness Day provides an opportunity for visitors to see and touch emergency rescue vehicles as well as observe training demonstrations.

"There isn't another facility like this anywhere in Illinois," he said. "So this isn't like you could see this every day you want. There's only one place like this in the state, and there's only one day that we're open to the public."

Praising the facility, Wax said, "There are resources available at NIPSTA that any one community could never afford to have on their own."

NIPSTA has 31 members: 25 are local communities, including Des Plaines, Niles and Northbrook, and the rest are affiliate organizations such as Oakton Community College.

"We want people to be aware of what they do for a living and what we do as a facility that benefits the responders in these communities, and the residents who live in these communities," Lahey said.

A new activity at the event will be an Internet safety discussion led by a manager from a Best Buy in Northbrook. Bradley Davis of the store's Geek Squad service will be available to speak with children, parents and others about proper online safety habits.

"The biggest thing for kids, and I will tell this to any parent, if you don't know them in person, they're not your friends," Davis said, speaking as a parent of a 7-year-old daughter. "Above all I'd say that's probably the biggest thing. . . you'd never want to reveal information like phone number, last name or address because with any one of those pieces of information I can locate and find just about anybody."

Davis, who was not speaking for his employer, advises parents to monitor where children go online.

"Be your kid's friend on Facebook so you can see who all their other friends are, and if you start noticing people that are from different states or countries, you should have that discussion with them," he said.

Another new addition is a raffle in which one lucky child will win a trip to school aboard NIPSTA's fire engine. The fund-raising effort grew out of a need for first responders in the area to have better access to programs.

Glenview Fire Chief Wayne Globerger said before the organization formed in 2001, firefighters in Illinois had just two training options: the Chicago Fire Department and Champaign's Illinois Fire Service Institute.

"Sending guys down to Champaign is very expensive because most of the classes are a week long," said Globerger, who serves on NIPSTA's executive committee. "There's travel cost, there's hotels, all that kind of stuff, and they miss work. So we tried to get something up this way."

While NIPSTA has grown over the years, maintaining operations and staying current with technology remains a challenge.

"Funding is tough," Globerger said. "We're going after grant funding to try to expand always, but we've used what we have out there quite well."

NIPSTA facility at 2300 Patriot Blvd. will be open from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. during Public Safety Awareness Day. To see the event poster, view pictures from last year and learn more, visit this website

Additional reporting by Lisa Cisneros