Safety Fair Offers Prevention Information, Recycling In One-Stop

GOLDEN, Colo (CBS4) - This is the sixth year that the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office is offering one-stop access to health, safety, and recycling information. The Safety Fair is a huge event at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, and it includes a wide variety of demonstrations, collections, and family fun.

"If we can stop crime before it's committed then we really are doing our job, and that's what the Safety Fair is all about," said Peter Weir, the Jefferson County District Attorney.

The District Attorney's Office has volunteers on hand who can help people do some online chores like signing up for the no-call lists, registering for Code Red, the emergency notification system, and pulling a free credit report. First Bank provides bankers who will then go through a report with to make sure everything is in order.

"For a lot of folks they haven't gotten their credit report before and those can be confusing to read. So those officers will go over those reports, help them understand the different aspects of it, and then look for anomalies, information that might be incorrect, and then of course making sure there is no fraudulent information in it," said Cary Johnson, the consumer fraud educator for the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office.

Volunteers also collect old cellphones and chargers. The District Attorney's Office then turns them over to an organization that wipes them clean and turns them into 911 cell phones for seniors.

"Every time they put a cellphone in that collection tub, that means we can get a free 911 cell phone that we can give to a senior who may not be able to afford one," Johnson told CBS4.

There are two spots where parents can put together a child identification kit for their kids. The kit includes a current picture, fingerprints, height and weight, and the parent can keep it on file in case of an emergency.

"We want every parent to have the opportunity should something happen to their child that information could be released immediately," Johnson explained.

CHEEZO will also be on hand. The cool cat promotes Internet safety for tweens and teens.

"It's a symbol of our commitment to keep kids safe, and our commitment to go after predators who prey on children online," said Mike Harris, an Internet crime investigator with the District Attorney's Office at last year's fair.

While CHEEZO entertains the kids, parents can get some important safety steps for online socializing.

"Parents need to be vigilant with all of technology," Harris said.

Another huge draw at the Jefferson County District Attorney's Safety Fair is electronics recycling. Last year, one gentleman travelled eight hours to take advantage of the program.

"Jackson, Wyoming all the way here to Golden, Colorado to recycle televisions because I couldn't find anybody up there who would do it at a reasonable price," he told CBS4 at last year's fair.

There may be a small fee for recycling some items, but it's worth it for the peace of mind.

"We don't want computers going out in the trash, first of all, because you're not supposed to do that, but secondly, again we're talking safety. We don't want hard drives going out and perhaps falling into the wrong hands," Johnson explained.

At the same time dropping off electronics, drop off prescription drugs to be properly disposed of, and dump up to seven boxes of personal files for shredding.

"Information that has personal and maybe financial information on it, we want this shredded so it doesn't fall into the hands of identity thieves," Johnson said.

There are more than 60 vendors at the Jefferson County District Attorney's Safety Fair, something for every age. There are several demonstrations geared toward kids, as well as, bouncy houses and other fun. It also includes programs to help and educate seniors and everyone in between.

The Jefferson County District Attorney's Safety Fair is Saturday, Aug. 23rd from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Jefferson County Fair Grounds.

RESOURCE: Jefferson County District Attorney's Safety Fair Flyer

--Written for CBSDenver.com by Special Projects Producer Libby Smith