DARE

The Lewiston Police provide the D.A.R.E. program to Lewiston Porter Middle School, St. Peter's RC School, Stella Niagara, and The Tuscarora Indian School.  Officer's Stafford, Salada, and Penzotti have all received the DARE Instructor Training and teach the program at our 4 schools.

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ABOUT DARE:

D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children in 5th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.

The D.A.R.E. curriculum is designed to be taught by police officers whose training and experience gave them the background needed to answer the sophisticated questions often posed by young students about drugs and crime. Prior to entering the D.A.R.E. program, officers undergo 80 hours of special training in areas such as child development, classroom management, teaching techniques,and communication skills. 40 hours of additional training are provided to D.A.R.E. instructors to prepare them to teach the high school curriculum.

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:

D.A.R.E. "humanizes" the police: that is, young people can begin to relate to officers as people

D.A.R.E. permits students to see officers in a helping role, not just an enforcement role

D.A.R.E. opens lines of communication between law enforcement and youth

D.A.R.E. Officers can serve as conduits to provide information beyond drug-related topics

D.A.R.E. opens dialogue between the school, police, and parents to deal with other issues