Next Generation of D.A.R.E. Officers Trained in Maple Grove
In a training room of the Maple Grove Police Department, Jolene Palmer attempted to calm an anxious group of police officers.
“You don’t have to be nervous, you can be excited, and I hope you have the butterflies of excitement more than nervous because kids are the best people in the world,” she said. “And you have the privilege of teaching them.”
Some of the officers — there were more than two dozen — hailed from nearby towns. Others, like a cop from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in New Mexico, made a long trek to the northwest Minneapolis suburbs.
These officers were getting ready to deploy on their latest mission. But instead of responding to a 911 call, they’re headed to the classroom.
“We have reached that day that you have been waiting for,” said Palmer, who’s been training the officers on the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. “We’ve reached the day that we have worked for for two weeks.”
Today, the officers will put the training they’ve received into practice, teaching kids about the risky nature of drug use.
But according to Maple Grove Police Chief Eric Werner, the program takes a different approach that the anti-drug commercials of yesteryear.
He used the “this is your brain on drugs” public service announcement as a frame of reference.
“I think that was impactful back in the 80s, however I believe that’s more of a scare tactic,” Werner said. “Where here this is more of a development approach where we’re engaging the youth. We have a curriculum that has decision-making models, and it’s more than just drugs. It’s about behavior, leadership, as well as those prevention messages that we’re trying to get to them.”
Hennepin County Sheriff’s Deputy Gina Carlson talks with a group of students at Elm Creek Elementary
For Hennepin County Sheriff’s Deputy Gina Carlson, who spoke with students at Elm Creek Elementary, the program’s most important feature is its community outreach.
It’s important to teach kids “first and foremost, that as law enforcement officers we are their friends, we’re somebody safe,” Carlson said.
She spoke with a young group of students about safety in the home.
“When is medicine O.K. to [take]? When you’re sick? And who gives it to you? Your parents. And that’s the only time it’s O.K., right?” Carlson said.
The program was light for these young students, but moving ahead, she’ll keep on with what the program does best — warn kids about drug use.
“It hits, you know, opioids, fentanyl, things like Xanax and painkillers,” she said. “Because that’s been, especially fentanyl, it’s been a huge issue in the Hennepin County area.”
As tobacco use drops with teens, the D.A.R.E. program is staring to focus on vape prevention in schools.
