PotShot

DARE program losing ground?
MEGAN JURINEK | nwiTimes.com | July 9, 2006

A lack of funding for a national drug prevention program is one reason several local police departments no longer offer drug prevention education in schools, officials said.

The DARE program, which teaches students about the dangers of drugs, is no longer a part of several local police departments.

A decrease in the number of DARE programs is a concern because a lot of schools do not offer enough drug prevention information, said Gerald Ruff, DARE officer for the Steger Police Department.

Steger has been able to keep its DARE program through local donations, Ruff said. The program is able to educate fourth-, fifth-graders and junior high students on alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use, he said.

Ruff also speaks with teachers about the drugs their students are abusing, issues with gangs and problems with violence, Ruff said.

"The teachers love that because where else can they go for information," Ruff said. "If they see or hear anything and have a question, they can come right to me."

Even though some areas have cut DARE, the program continues to be strong, said Scott Gilliam, director of training for the DARE program.

"The facts are that there is not a teacher or a parent that wants DARE out of the schools," Gilliam said. "But budgets determine if they can have DARE or not."

The program still serves 75 percent of the schools districts in the U.S., Gilliam said.

Some DARE programs have been dropped because they don't have the money to hire an officer, Gilliam said. He said much of the funding for DARE comes from federal government and that money has "dried up."

Such police departments as Chicago Heights no longer offer this program.

The Crete Police Department does not offer a DARE program because the Crete fifth- and sixth-graders attend a middle school in University Park, said Katy Dreixler, records supervisor for the Crete Police Department. The University Park Police Department does have a DARE officer.

The Sauk Village Police Department does not offer the DARE program due to lack of funding, said Laura Placek, Sauk Village juvenile and school resource officer.

Placek said the department's DARE license expired a couple of years ago and the former DARE officer has retired.

"I have just been working at the schools as a resource officer," Placek said. "I am there for information within the schools, and it's basically law enforcement, like basic security."

Placek said she is in the process of obtaining grant money and attending the DARE information program for officers so that program can be re-established. She said no money was offered last year, but she intends to keep looking.

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