AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION

Rexdale has had more than its share of problems with drugs and violence
lately. That point was driven home last year with the shooting deaths of
six young people in just six months in this north Etobicoke community.

``I invite those people who say there isn't a gang problem to spend one
night taking a walk around 23 Division,'' Chief Julian Fantino said last
October, referring to the local police station responsible for the area.

It will take more than cops in cruisers to solve the problem. It will take
officers going into schools and educating kids about the dangerous
influence of gangs.

That's why the decision by the force to halt its Drug Abuse Resistance
Education (DARE) program defies logic.

By all accounts, it was succeeding in keeping neighbourhood kids out of
trouble. ``We just have anecdotal evidence. But we know it worked,'' school
principal Collette Dowhaniuk said.

It began as a pilot project in 1997. Over 17 weeks, a police officer taught
Grade 6 students the dangers of using drugs and hanging around with gangs.
This gave younger children the skills and the confidence to say ``no'' to
peer pressure and resist the lure of gang activity.

Teachers saw the effects immediately. The number of suspensions went down.
Students developed a respect for officers.

Yet the force halted the program last June to free up the officer for other
duties. But the work of one officer in a classroom now could help keep
children on the straight and narrow and avoid the need for five or six
officers responding to crimes in the future.

In fact, the program works so well we would like to see it extended
eventually to all Grade 6 students. But for now, it should at least be
provided in the neighbourhoods where gangs exert their destructive
influence on a daily basis.

North Etobicoke is one of those neighbourhoods.

Dowhaniuk, along with fellow principal Dorothy Whitehead and Councillor
Suzan Hall (Ward 1-Etobicoke North) appeared before the last meeting of the
police services board and made a compelling case to get it back.

They offered some practical ideas to help save it. They suggested, for
example, that retired police officers could teach the program. This would
free up regular officers for street patrols. They offered to do fundraising
to cover its costs.

Their enthusiasm for the program is heartening. Here are community leaders
struggling to turn back troubling neighbourhood influences.

Fantino should be offering all the help he can. That should include
reinstating the DARE program.