Havre police to push for child safety awareness

The Havre Police Department is joining up with a nationwide program to raise awareness and spread knowledge on child and Internet safety.

Gabe Matosich, Havre police chief, said that basically what will happen is the National Child Safety Council will be contacting businesses around town and then asking citizens for donations.

NCSC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit group. which makes any donation to them eligible for a tax deduction.

“Basically if the businesses donate to this program, it will allow for me to purchase educational material for children and adults,” Matosich said.

Some of the materials cover drugs and crime prevention, ID theft and Internet safety. Matosich said he would be able to go to the senior centers with information on how to protect themselves on the Internet.

“The National Child Safety Council will be mailing letters out to the public,” he said. “So, number one: It’s not a scam. Number two: If you do wish to participate and donate to the program, what you actually do is you mail the amount to the police department here and then I’ll take it and I’ll send it to the safety council.”

This is the first year Havre’s police force has participated in this program. HPD takes part in many programs like this throughout the year.

This particular program will especially help the Student Resource Officer, who patrols the schools during school hours.

“It’s another great way to get more information and more material, that way the SRO can touch the students in regards to educating them on drugs, or ID theft and Internet safety and on social media,” Matosich said.

The material will be on hand for anyone to be able to use it, Matosich said.