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Car seat donations for the Chippewa Falls Police Department

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (WEAU) – You don’t usually see child seats in cars at local police stations.

Thanks to a generous donation, the Chippewa Falls Police Department now has car seats.

The Chippewa County Health Department donated car seats to its police department, allowing the department after-hours access.

“Often times, these things happen after business hours when we don’t have access to a store to buy a car seat,” Joan Lawcewicz

According to Lawcewicz, there are different scenarios in which child car seats are necessary.

“We’ve typically used it during or after a car accident. And then when we find a child and need to transport them in a vehicle, or when a child needs to be removed from a home for some reason, it enables safe transport,” she says.

She says such situations do not occur too often, but can be critical if the accident affects a family.

“It definitely happens, and the car seat should not be used after an accident, no matter how severe the accident was, just to protect the entire car seat so that the child can be transported safely… We had a case where the sheriff’s department reached out to us and said, ‘Hey, we had a case in the county where there was an accident… and they had a toddler and they were from out of area… so they gave the car seat to a family member,'” she says.

Lawcewicz also said that although it was a one-time donation, it would be a great help.

“If they have been involved in an accident, you should not use them. It is important to know that the shelf life of car seats is approximately five years, depending on the manufacturer,” she says.

Lawcewicz also urges families to pay attention to proper installation of a car seat and to be cautious when purchasing a used car seat.