Sioux City Police purchased $1,000 worth of car seats for local families with the help of Walmart on Floyd.

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) — There’s an essential item for new parents, but one that can be difficult to afford: car seats.

The Sioux City Police Department helps those who need it but can’t afford it.

On Thursday morning, Sgt. Tom Gill of the Sioux City Police Department purchased 15 car seats for the department through Walmart on Floyd.

The funds used to purchase these car seats came from the non-profit organization Friends of the Sioux Police Department. Officers will distribute these car seats to families who need them and come across them while on patrol.

“If an officer has stopped a vehicle and there’s an unbelted child in the vehicle, maybe they can’t afford to buy a child seat, we’ll have another officer stop at the station and get the car seat and deliver it there. traffic stop so when they leave the child is securely secured in the vehicle,” explained Sgt. Jill.

Friends of the Sioux Police Department is a nonprofit organization that raises community funds for items needed by the department, such as drones or equipment for K-9 teams, as well as items that directly benefit the community, such as car seats.

“We will use these donations to buy things like car seats and bike helmets for the kids,” Gill said. “We are also using these funds to purchase some K9 equipment. I believe all of our K9 ballistic vests were purchased through the Friends of the Sioux City Police Department account.”

Friends is run entirely by a committee of community members.

The Friends of the Sioux Police Department often sends letters to local residents about the group’s fundraising activities. Sergeant Gill says the group will never call people directly.

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