Palos Park's PD's Coffee With A Cop Focuses On Fire Investigations

PALOS PARK, IL — Area residents will have the opportunity to learn more about the Palos Park Police Department’s working relationships with several other agencies when the department hosts its latest Coffee With A Cop session next week.

Coffee With A Cop will take place at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at the Plush Horse, which is located at 12301 S. 86th St. in Palos Park. At the meeting, police officials will discuss the department’s partnership with the Fire Investigation Cause and Origin Team, which is a specialized team made up of firefighters and police officers.

The team works together to determine the cause of fires and explosions. The Orland Fire District has been one of the lead agencies for the “Will, Cook, Grundy County Fire Investigation Task Force” in partnership with the department’s local public safety team led by the Palos Fire Protection District.

Together agencies work together to investigate a fire's cause and circumstances surrounding all fires or explosions of suspicious origin require training and skills in a unified command setting coordinated as police and fire staff work jointly with fire investigators from other agencies, federal agencies like ATF, and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

ATF is the only U.S. government agency with fire and arson investigation as part of its core mission, and it serves as the fire investigation and training experts for the United States. Support often comes from ATF explosives, fire, K-9, and response operations.