LPD Police Chief Troy Jerrell said he received a notice this week that their application for a 2007 mini-grant has been approved. The additional money will be used to supplement the existing program and help pay salaries of the officers who work in the school.
D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
The D.A.R.E. program 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. was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has proven so successful that is it now being implemented in 75 percent of our nation's school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world.
In Linton, the LPD and Linton-Stockton Elementary School collaborate to bring this program to the school's fifth-graders. Throughout the school year, an officer teaches regular classes at the school.
"The main theme is 'don't use drugs' but every class is different," said Jerrell. "D.A.R.E. is also interaction of the police with students so they begin to build a rapport. It's a positive influence that gives them a way of thinking to help keep them out of trouble and out of the law enforcement system."
Patrol Officer Debbie McDonald was the LPD's first D.A.R.E. instructor and taught the classes last year. She is continuing in that role this year with assistance from another officer. As a D.A.R.E. instructor, McDonald had to attend special training after meeting certain criteria to be accepted into the program.
This year, Patrol Officer Karl Jacobshagen has also been accepted as a D.A.R.E. instructor, has completed the training and will be working with students in the local school.
Jerrell says the additional grant money will allow the LPD to assign these officers to work in the school for more hours per week.
"We try to have an officer in the school several times a day," said Jerrell.
The D.A.R.E. program in Linton is completely funded by grants and Jerrell thanked community organizations and the mayor for their support.
"We've gotten a lot of support from Mayor Tom Jones for this program," said Jerrell. "He ultimately had to sign off on every one of these grants and I want to thank him for his help."