MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Meridian Township Police took an extra effort to make sure children are safely strapped in during their annual car seat safety check event More than a dozen cars came out to get the proper guidance on strapping their little ones in.

"I feel safer now than I ever had before because now we know that she's safe," said Dimondale resident Pam Stroble.

Stroble who has a three-year-old daughter said she's tried to come out a few times in the past, but never had the time. But finding the time today was one of the best decisions she's made.

"The service is excellent. We read the manual, we thought we were compliant and working with the officers and trauma team we found out that no, there were lots of issues with the car seats."

David Metts, one of the Meridian Township Police officers who helped ensure the car safety said police go though extensive training and are re-certified every two years to make sure they stay up to date on child safety and have the knowledge to teach others.

"Our job is to be a teacher not an installer," Metts said. "So we teach them how to properly do that so that way they can impart that on their life and how they do their business."

Metts said around 60 percent of the car seats out there aren't properly installed.

"A lot of times, they're too loose in the car," he said. "New cars come in a latch system which is designed to make it easier for child safety seats to be installed and most people think its more safe to use the safety belt and the latch and you only need to use one or the other."

Or he said a lot of times children are in the wrong seat for their body size.

"I've seen an 18 month old child in an infant only seat."

But even more than that, people who showed up were also able to get a full car inspection to make sure everything, not just that the car seat was placed correctly.

"They reviewed everything in the car — about placing the objects in the back, making sure they're not flying in case of an accident, making sure things aren't projectile once it does happen and those are things we didn't think of," Stroble said.

Which is something that Metts said people continuously thanked him for.

"Every single person is very grateful and very happy that we provide the service and really glad that we can show them what they're doing wrong just so they're child is safer," he said.