Pubdate: Wed, 21 Jun 2006 Source: Detroit News (MI) Copyright: 2006, The Detroit News Contact: http://detnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126 Author: Karen Bouffard, The Detroit News Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) WAYNE SAYS NO TO D.A.R.E City Cuts Officer's Job, Joins Others Across Mich. Folding The Anti-Drug Program Due To Costs. WAYNE -- A program that teaches fifth- and sixth-graders how to resist drugs may become the latest casualty in the economic crisis that has Michigan municipalities and school districts scrambling to cut costs. The city of Wayne approved a budget that will eliminate a police officer to run the city's D.A.R.E. program -- the national Drug Awareness Resistance Education Program that teaches kids how to say "no" to alcohol and drugs. Howell also will ax its D.A.R.E. program in the fall, and Scott Theede, president of the Michigan DARE Officers Association, said more communities could follow suit before school starts in September. "When departments start cutting back, a lot of times D.A.R.E. is the first thing to go," Theede said. "A lot of times the D.A.R.E. program is on a year-to-year basis, and departments won't know (whether the program will continue) until it gets close to the school year." Wayne Mayor Al Haidous blamed cutbacks in state funding to municipalities, combined with rising energy costs, for close to an $800,000 shortfall in the city's budget. The City Council voted to eliminate two police officers in order to save money. And with fewer officers, there won't be one to spare for the D.A.R.E. program. "All of the operation costs went up because of the rising energy costs," Haidous said. "At this present time, people are losing their jobs, and going to less-paying jobs. We're a blue-collar town -- we can't raise our taxes because people can't afford it." Wayne Police Chief John Williams said he is holding out hope that the city will find a way to avoid the layoffs before school starts. "There are still talks going on," Williams said. "We're still hoping to work something out." The D.A.R.E. program has drawn some criticism nationally from people who don't believe it's an effective deterrent against substance abuse. In Dearborn, police eliminated D.A.R.E. several years ago and replaced it with an alternative program. Still, many police officers and educators think the program works. Wayne-Westland Community Schools Superintendent Greg Baracy said even kids as old as high school age could benefit from D.A.R.E. "We're obviously very disappointed that we won't have D.A.R.E., but we understand the financial difficulties the city is experiencing," Baracy said. Fourteen-year-old Josh Wilcox, an eighth-grader at Hoover Middle School in Taylor, said D.A.R.E. taught him what to do if somebody offers him drugs. "It's hard to refuse when there's a whole bunch of people standing there telling you to do it, but you just have to get through it and don't" accept the drugs, Josh said. "I was hanging out with a couple friends and they had marijuana. They asked us if we wanted some and we just said no. "I thought about it beforehand, and thought about how I would say no." Officer Ken Spratke, who has been the D.A.R.E. officer in Wayne for the past four years, said kids in the program learn how to think before they act, and to be aware of the decisions they make. "My biggest concern would be that they don't get to learn how to make those decisions," Spratke said. "That's a skill they can use whether it be about drugs or alcohol, or any other facet of their life." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman