Laurens Police Department Victims Advocate Becomes Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician

January 23, 2023

Laurens Police Department Victims Advocate, Amanda Greer, is now a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician.

Car crashes are the second-leading cause of death for children under the age of 1 and the leading cause of death for kids and young adults from ages 1-24, according to the National Safety Council. Children need special protection in vehicles to keep them safe in the event of a crash. The Laurens Police Department takes those numbers seriously and now we have a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician on staff.

The Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) certification course is a four-day, national standardized course combing classroom instruction, hands-on work with car seats and in vehicles, and a community safety seat checkup event. Successful completion of the course certifies the individual as a national CPS technician. There are approximately 800 CPST’s in South Carolina.

As a technician Greer is equipped with basic skills to educate caregivers about child passenger safety. This can be accomplished in several ways including checkup events, health and safety fairs, educational presentations, and scheduled one on one interactions with caregivers.

The Laurens Police Department will also soon be 1 of only 3 Child Passenger Safety Inspection Stations in Laurens County. An Inspection Station is a location where caregivers can call to set up an appointment to have car seats checked by a certified CPST.