The 23rd Annual Sinclair Community College Safety Awareness Expo featuring SLA Club Day is Wednesday, September 29, in the Building 7 plaza from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The Expo’s motto this year is, “Lock out crime, lock in education,” and is co-sponsored by the Miami Valley Crime Prevention Association (MVCPA).
Lt. Scott Fowler of Campus Police said the Expo’s prime purpose is to bring together neighborhood police departments, state agencies, safety organizations and some select health organizations on campus so students can come out and get to know them.
“It’s good promotion for us because students only see us if we’re dealing with an issue,” Fowler said.
The event is also open to the public.
Fowler said the best advice he can give to help prevent being a victim of crime is to always be aware of your surroundings. The Expo will feature information about safety awareness and theft prevention, Fowler said.
“We have a variety of attractions geared to that,” Fowler said. “Like K-9 demos. We’ve had a cadaver dog in the past, and drug dogs are pretty popular.”
Fowler said that depending on the officer, in the past the demos have included asking for backpacks from the public to be sniffed by the drug dogs.
Various bagpipers and drum corps from Montgomery, Warren and Hamilton County will serve as the music and entertainment for the Expo, Fowler said.
Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Sinclair Police, Miami Township Police Department Ohio Homeland Security, Ohio Investigative Unit, Centerville Police and the MVCPA among other safety and police organizations will appear.
Some of the non-police and safety organizations scheduled are Aramark, American Red Cross (Dayton Chapter), WDTN-TV, and Public Health Dayton.
WDTN-TV’s anchor Mark Allan will emcee the presentation of the first annual Sinclair Community College/MVCPA Community Awards. The awards are for Good Citizen and Corporate.
The Good Citizen award goes to a citizen that witnessed a crime, was a victim of a crime and assisted the police in preventing further crime, or was involved in an incident that led to an arrest, according to the awards ballot.
The Corporate award goes to a for-profit or non-profit organization whose “contributions to crime prevention are exemplary in nature,” according to the awards ballot.
SLA Club Day has developed a theme for this year’s event, said student leadership development specialist Karen Williams. The theme is ‘western,’ and SLA is promoting a ‘western dress’ contest.
The Ohio Department of Transportation will have a booth at the Expo, and they will have goggles for students to wear that simulate the affect of texting while driving for students to see the danger, Williams said.