Safety City / DARE

Safety City

Safety City was established in 1978 through a unique partnership between the Lima Police Department and the Lima Noon Optimist Club, which is the private sponsor of Safety City along with the Club's community partners. The Lima Fire Department and the Lima City Schools also share in a partnership with Safety City. Safety City is located at 700 South Collett Street in Lima, and has served well over 100,000 youth throughout the years. The Safety City complex spreads over 4 acres which includes a classroom building, a fire safety training house, a number of mini-buildings making up the cityscape, a play area, roads to ride bikes, and a number of other training infrastructure.

Through the Lima Police Department, Safety City serves the area youth through school year field trips to Safety City, the Safety City Summer Academy, and safety training that is taken into the schools within the City of Lima. Safety City uses the most state-of-the-art national child safety program called radKIDS, which uses hands-on practical drills for all child safety training. The D.A.R.E. Program is also utilized in all areas of Safety City child training in conjunction with radKIDS, both at Safety City and in the Lima City Schools.

Safety City Summer Academy Registration

For more information on the Safety City Summer Academy, and to register for the upcoming season, click here to visit the Lima Optimist site.

Program Coordinator

LPD Officer Eric Mericle coordinates all aspects of Safety City, and can be contacted at 419-221-5269, or by email.