Officers from the Suffolk County Police Department’s Community Oriented Police Enforcement unit visited Edna Louise Spear Elementary School for a program on the dangers of strangers.

The officers were invited as volunteer educational partners by the Rose Brucia Educational Foundation, an organization that works to educate and empower children with the knowledge necessary to avoid abduction.

The program’s theme was “If I Don’t Know, I Don’t Go!” which helped to reinforce stranger safety concepts. Using puppets and simple self-defense techniques, the students role-played and acted out scenarios about the danger of strangers.

“The students loved the assembly,” said Assistant Principal Claudia Smith. “It was extremely informative.”