Las Vegas Sun

December 4, 2009

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Editorial: Help keep kids safe

Monday, May 24, 2004 | 8:39 a.m.

Representatives of a Kansas-based group were in Las Vegas this past Thursday to support a local campaign to build awareness about the danger of leaving children alone in cars. The need for the campaign was almost immediately demonstrated.

Just hours after Kids and Cars, a nonprofit organization (kidncars.org), wrapped up its presentation, a man was arrested by Henderson police for leaving his two children -- a 5-year-old girl and 5-week-old boy -- inside his SUV while he shopped for a television. In an indication of how seriously local police are now treating these offenses, the man was arrested and jailed on two gross misdemeanor counts of child abuse and neglect.

Last year two local children died of heat exposure after being left alone in vehicles. They were among hundreds of children exposed to the potentially lethal heat. Fire and rescue crews responded to 596 calls last year in the Las Vegas Valley of children left alone in cars, and so far this year there have been nearly 200 calls.

In the Henderson incident, the man was arrested after a Wal-Mart security guard spotted the children, who were crying and upset but otherwise OK. We believe all security guards -- and all citizens -- should be equally observant, particularly now as we head into summer.

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