The D.A.R.E. History
This year millions of school children around the world will benefit from D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), the highly acclaimed program that gives kids the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, and violence.
D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has proven so successful that it is now being implemented in 75 percent of our nation's school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world. Over the course of the past theree years, well over 220 communities have started new D.A.R.E. programs.
D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.
D.A.R.E. is universally viewed as an internationally recognized model of community policing. The United States Department of Justice has identified how D.A.R.E. benefits local communities:
- Provide classroom D.A.R.E. instruction, if certified to do so at the middle or high school level.
- Serve as a classroom instructor or resource for law and safety education using approved materials.
- Strengthen safety measures and prevent delinquent behavior on school campuses through heightened police visibility.
- Act as a resource for teachers, parents, students and staff.
- Attend conferences on an individual basis dealing with problems or questions, particularly in the area of substance abuse, crime prevention.
- On request, appear before PTA/PTO and other groups associated with the assigned campus and speak on a variety of topics, particularly drug and alcohol use and abuse, and crime prevention.
- Document activities on and off campus and provide the School District and the Police Department with a monthly report.
- Assist all local law enforcement and state agencies conducting formal police interviews, interrogations, and arrest of students on school property. Procedures should be put in place to require these agencies to contact the campus SRO. The SRO should advise the agencies on school policy concerning such actions.
- Maintain familiarity with all community agencies that offer assistance to dependency and delinquency prone youths and their families, such as mental health clinics, drug treatment centers, shelters and “help lines.” Referrals should be made when necessary in accordance with the school district policy.
- In cooperation with the principal, develop plans and strategies to prevent or reduce dangerous situations.
- Coordinate his/her actions with the principal for law enforcement actions of an immediate nature.
- Avoid acting as school disciplinarian. Disciplining students should continue as a school responsibility and only when the principal believes an incident is a criminal violation and requests police involvement should the SRO take action. NOTE: This shall not prevent the SRO from taking action as a responsible adult or as a law enforcement officer.
- Coordinate all of his/her activities with the principal and staff members concerned, and seek permission, advice and guidance before enacting programs within the school.
- Act in a capacity first and foremost as a law enforcement officer. This fact should be conveyed to staff and students and regularly reinforced.
- Provide community-wide crime prevention presentations that should include but not be limited to:
-Drugs and the law – Adults & Juvenile
-Alcohol/Driving and the law – Adults & Juvenile
-Sexual Assault and Family Violence Prevention
-Personal Safety Programs – Adult & Juvenile
-Holiday/Seasonal Crime Prevention Programs
-The SRO should be able to coordinate all youth related programs offered by the Department.
-Activities to be performed by the SRO should include but not be limited to:
- Classroom instructor
- Resource for teachers, parents and students, and
- Participator in conferences, in-service trainings and counseling (when appropriate)
