The DARE Program and Community Policing

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program is described as "a validated, copyrighted comprehensive drug and violence prevention education program" for children in kindergarten through 12th grade (NIJ 1). DARE is a collaborative effort between school and law enforcement personnel, which is nationally coordinated by DARE America with input from state and local agencies and communities (NIJ 1). To date, DARE has been the largest and most widely implemented drug and violence prevention program in the world and was recognized as a key element of community-based policing efforts (NIJ 2).

The DARE curriculum is intended to prepare elementary, middle, and high school students to resist substance abuse, violence, and gangs. As of 1993, more than 22,000 community-oriented law enforcement officers from 7,000 communities throughout the United States had taught the DARE curriculum to more than 25 million elementary school students (NIJ 1). Moreover, also as of 1993, DARE was being taught by law enforcement officers in 19 countries and was being implemented in Department of Defense Dependent schools worldwide (NIJ 1).

Social influences programs such as DARE are the most recent approach to drug use among youth (RTI 2-4). These programs operate on the assumption youth use drugs because they do not have the social competencies to resist social pressures to use them. These programs typically include interactive learning exp

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parent education (NIJ 2). The program suggests that a parent education evening be held each semester in which the DARE officer explains the program and gives parents the opportunity to review the curriculum. To further involve the community at large, the DARE program suggests police, educators, and others committed to the success of the effort should meet with groups from all segments of the community to promote understanding and support (NIJ 2). Lyman & Potter argue that after its creation in 1983, DARE became the "darling of the United States' drug war" (438). The number of programs adopted by school boards as outlined in the Introduction certainly supports this statement. Furthermore, parents who supported the program would hold garage sales to raise money for the program and many plastered the familiar red-and-black bumper stickers to their cars (Lyman & Potter 438). While the program seemed to be effective, it was not cheap. DARE America estimated the annual cost of the program to be less than $200 million (Findle 1). However, Lawrence Ludlow, founder of the San Diego-based Institute for Education, said the estimate is closer to $700 million a year (Findle 1). Nonetheless, Lyman & Potter note that politicians praised
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