You’re in the back seat of a police car. You’ve had a run-in with a drug-sniffing dog. You’ve tried to walk a straight line at an officer’s request, but you couldn’t see straight to do it. Usually this would mean your next stop was the big house, but if you’re at the Plainsboro Police Exposition, your next stop could be Old Navy or Lord & Taylor.##M:[more]##
On Sunday, April 30, the Plainsboro Police Department, along with police from West Windsor, Lawrence, and Princeton, will hold its 10th annual Police Exposition at Quaker Bridge Mall. The Expo is a chance for area residents to become more acquainted with their policemen and the measures the officers are taking to make the town a safe place to live, work, and drive. The event lasts from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Plainsboro Officer Michael Kelly, who organized the event, explains that “each of the departments has an emphasis on a different part of law enforcement.” Lawrenceville and West Windsor will bring canines. West Windsor and Princeton will work with Plainsboro cops at the child seat safety check, held in the parking lot from 1 to 3 p.m. The State Police will also be present, and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office is scheduled to have specialists on hand from its Gang and Counter-Terrorism units.
Among the services available to attendees is obtaining child ID cards, with the fingerprints and picture of any youth too young to get a driver’s license. Last year, over 150 area youths got their cards at the Exposition.
The Plainsboro police department hosts the event each year in April, and each year the presentation warns against drinking and driving. Says Kelly: “April is Drunk Driving Awareness month. We have a pair of fatal vision goggles that visitors can put on. They simulate the impaired reactions someone has with a blood alcohol level of greater than [the legal limit of].08,” says Kelly.
In addition to the police departments, civilian organizations will also take part. Participants include Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD), the Million Mom March, the Plainsboro Domestic Violence Response team, and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), the recently formed and rapidly growing volunteer organization started to get citizens involved in aiding others in a time of crisis.
The Plainsboro CERT, whose members will number 125 after the next class graduates the training program in May, has become the largest unit in Middlesex County, and is among the largest in the state. The state’s office of Emergency Management this year provided the team with a trailer. That trailer will be on display at the Exposition.
Among the popular returning attractions is a tour of a police vehicle. Officers will show adults and children the features of their cruiser, including the on-board camera and computer. Says Bondurant, “People say it’s nice to see the police and be able to ask them questions, and have their children see that the policeman is there to help, and not someone to be afraid of.”
– Peter Shaughnessy
Police Expo, Quaker Bridge Mall, Center Court, 609-799-8177. Tenth annual police expo features West Windsor, Plainsboro, Princeton, and Lawrenceville Police; Mercer County prosecutors office; and gang and counter-terrorism units. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
