Pubdate: Tue, 21 Feb 2012
Source: Petaluma Argus-Courier (CA)
Copyright: 2012 PressDemocrat.com
Contact:  http://www.petaluma360.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/741
Author: Marsha Trent, Argus-Courier

D.A.R.E. PROGRAM RETURNS AFTER HIATUS

After a three-year hiatus, a noted anti-drug and anti-violence program
taught by local police officers returns to Petaluma elementary schools
with strong community support.

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program fell victim to
budget constraints resulting in staff decreases at the Petaluma Police
Department a few years ago, according to Police Chief Dan Fish.

The program returns to nine Petaluma elementary schools this year
thanks to donations from the Petaluma Chapter of the North Bay
Association of Realtors and the McDowell Drug Task Force.

Fish said the money allows the Petaluma Police Department to pay three
specially trained patrol officers to teach classes on a part-time
basis during their off hours. Running the program this way should cost
about $10,000 a year.

The DARE program began in Los Angeles about 30 years ago and is now
taught around the nation and internationally. Besides being axed in
some communities a few years ago due to funding losses, the program
became controversial when a 1997 study found it to be ineffective in
preventing drug abuse among youth. As a result, federal funding for
the program dried up, but public support remained strong in many
communities.

Whether DARE can be proven effective in preventing drug abuse, it has
strong support from Petaluma police, Fish added.

"My philosophy is community involvement on behalf of the police
department means quality customer service -- those are our customers,
the people of Petaluma. Having officers in classrooms, getting to know
kids and teaching them about drug abuse cannot be a bad thing. Having
officers mentor and be good role models provides the community with
good service from the police department," Fish said.

Three drugs likely to be abused by youngsters are the focus of the
DARE program in Petaluma this year Fish said. They are tobacco,
alcohol and marijuana. Marijuana has become a bigger concern because
of its greater accessibility in the community due to medical marijuana
use.

DARE is right in line with the community service mission of the
Petaluma Chapter of the North Bay Association of Realtors, said
Rebecca Celli, president. This is the 18th year the local association
has supported the DARE program. Annual contributions average about
$5,000.

"DARE works here in Petaluma," said McDowell Drug Task Force
representative Dick Sharkey, which is one of the reasons his
organizations' contributes about $3,000 annually to the program.

"Many of our police officers are homegrown and they went through the
DARE program," he added.

It's true even for the officers who did not grow up in Petaluma, said
police Capt. Dave Sears, who has been with the department for more
than a decade. Sears said he was a DARE officer about 20 years ago in
Benicia. He now oversees Petaluma's DARE officer; Nick McGowan,
Matthew Frick and Art Farinha.

Sears said the program "creates community relationships that help
people make wise decisions and develop social skills they can use
around the issues of drug abuse."

Officer Matt Frick said, "I remember having DARE in elementary
school." He credited the program with encouraging his interest in law
enforcement.

The Director of Student Services at the Petaluma City Elementary
School District, Dave Rose, said officials brought the DARE program
back as a pilot in one elementary school this year after looking at
data that showed it to be "a necessary progression" to programs
offered to junior high school students.

Old Adobe Union School District Superintendent Cynthia Pilar said
although DARE was dropped for funding reasons, there was strong
support for it in the district.

Prior studies of the program's effectiveness focused on drug use; new
studies challenge those findings based on the program's ability to
build connections, Pilar said.

"The feedback we always got from students and parents stressed the
good relationships the program created between students and law
enforcement," she added. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.