Every booth, demonstration and display at Draper Police Department’s Safety Fair focused on safety with learning and fun mixed in including candy, prize drawings and games. 

Among the booths and exhibits were police and fire vehicles and gear, a helicopter, the police department’s Mobile Command Unit, representatives from CSI and SWAT teams, K9 demonstrations, victim services personnel and crossing guards.

Representatives from Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services chatted with fair participants. “We want to keep kids safe and families together,” Lindsey Morris said.

UTA Officer Travis Williams brought K9 “Stig” to the event. Williams said the dog was tied up and abandoned on UTA property last summer at just five months of age. They think he’s a Belgian Malinois, the breed of dog typically chosen for K9 work. “We took him to the shelter, and after seven days, no one claimed him,” Williams said. But Stig’s story has a happy ending. Williams’ boss adopted the dog for UTA’s use and named him, and now Stig helps UTA officers with explosive detection. “We were able to train him before he was a year old,” Williams said. 

Mom of eight Michelle Tischner brought sons Simon and Ryan to the Safety Fair and the three quickly bonded with Stig, allowing the dog to “kiss” each of them. “I’m glad you guys found him. He’s beautiful and he’s so good with kids,” Tischner told Williams.

Officers Nils Gardner and Rulon Green are part of Draper Police Department’s Traffic Unit focused on minimizing accidents for residents of and visitors to the city. (Mimi Darley Dutton/City Journals)

Officers Rulon Green and Nils Gardner represented the police department’s traffic unit. The officers estimate 120,000 cars go through Draper on a daily basis with people driving to and from work, school and errands. That number increases when accidents on I-15 cause drivers to seek alternate routes on Draper’s roads. “People see us out there and they pay more attention to the road. Injury accidents are coming down,” Green said.

According to Green, the majority of accidents happen on 12300 South. “We have lots of distracted drivers and accidents from people trying to beat a yellow light turning red,” he said. 

The department has specialized vehicles, 400 Horsepower Turbo Ford Explorers, to catch speeders. Green caught a driver going 89 MPH in a 40 MPH zone on the road to SunCrest, resulting in a $1,200 ticket. Speeding penalties, set by the state of Utah, are $130 for every five miles over the posted speed limit and fines double in school zones. “I’ve caught people doing 35 in a 20 MPH, so almost an $800 ticket,” Green said. 

Police Chief Rich Ferguson explained it’s all about avoiding accidents. “Our traffic team focuses on highest accident areas. They’re not there to generate revenue, but for the sole purpose of reducing traffic accidents, one of our biggest quality-of-life issues. Anybody involved in a crash knows the time it takes away from life to repair or secure a new car, recover, pay hospital bills, etc. If we can do our part educating and enforcing traffic laws, that’s a huge quality of life thing for our citizens and guests,” he said.  

Since becoming chief two years ago, Ferguson has equipped the fronts of police vehicles with special bumpers made of soft rubber that allow officers to push stalled vehicles out of traffic with no damage to either car. “The police vehicle becomes a utility vehicle at times,” Ferguson said. It’s also a money-saving measure because, according to Ferguson, new headlights for specialized police vehicles cost thousands of dollars, and the soft bumpers protect the costly headlights.

Draper’s crossing guards are geared up and ready for the start of school. Crossing guard Melissa Stevens wore her uniform neon vest to the event and fun stop sign earrings. “We love kids and we want to remind people to be safe,” Stevens said. She was joined by fellow crossing guards Erin Longacre and Tiffany Nelson at their booth that had music playing. All the songs contained the word “stop” in the lyrics, such as “Stop in the name of love.” Each time the song said “stop,” Stevens raised her hand-held stop sign in time with the music to bring fun attention to their important work. 

Crossing Guards (L-R) Melissa Stevens, Erin Longacre and Tiffany Nelson had fun music playing and candy to give away at their booth. Crossing Guard Supervisor Leslie Bruce said she has a full staff and they’re ready for the start of school. (Mimi Darley Dutton/City Journals)

 Crossing guard supervisor Leslie Bruce said there have been years where she didn’t have enough people, but this year she’s fully staffed for the start of school. Ferguson said having enough crossing guards is of utmost importance because, if not, police have to step in to serve in that capacity, taking them away from their ability to respond to emergencies. “Leslie does a great job of keeping us fully staffed and we have a dedicated group of crossing guards in Draper that we’re very proud of. Kids are our most precious citizens,” Ferguson said.

Volunteer Dean Lowe spoke to people about the Volunteers in Police Service program. VIPS started with ten volunteers in 2020 but they’re down to five. They help the police department with many things including patrolling the city’s many trails and parks, helping at special events and participating in hiring officers. “We would like to expand and do more. It’s a great program. We have a wonderful police department that’s so involved in the community,” Lowe said. Anyone interested in volunteering with VIPS can contact the office of the Chief of Police. 

The Honoring Heroes Foundation had a smashed State Trooper patrol car on display that had been hit by a drunk driver Jan. 1, 2021 while it was parked on the side of the road. Not only was the car damaged but the trooper inside suffered broken ribs. “Troopers get hit all the time,” volunteer John Reed said. His group’s message is “slow down and move over when you see emergency lights ahead or anyone parked on the side of the road or interstate.” 

Draper Fire Department and Emergency Services personnel were also at the fair. “We’ve had a bunch of structure fires, three in the last month, and crews on wildland deployments,” fireman Kevin Wilkey said. They assist other departments through a Mutual Aid agreement, so they’ve helped with at least three structure fires in Sandy, and they were called to help after a Herriman business exploded. “It’s been a busy, exhausting summer,” Wilkey said.