HORSEMEN DIFFER WITH VPD OVER DARE

A member of the RCMP drug awareness service says the Vancouver Police
Department is not doing enough to teach students about the dangers of drugs.

Const. Richard De Jong said students would be better served by the
RCMP's Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, a 10-lesson
program that teaches elementary school students about drug use and
making smart decisions.

Last year, the RCMP presented the program, which is based in
Vancouver, to 21,000 students in 350 schools and 54 school districts
in B.C., De Jong said.

"I know for a fact there's a huge appetite for [the DARE program],"
De Jong told the Courier. "I'm hearing from parents, teachers,
schools themselves that [VPD drug programs] are very piecemeal. It's
very hit and miss, if anything."

De Jong noted that officers working in the RCMP's drug and organized
crime awareness squad have children attending Vancouver schools. He
said those students receive "very little" drug awareness education.

Vancouver schools have invited the RCMP to teach the DARE program, De
Jong said, but the VPD and the Vancouver School Board decided "to not
go down that road of prevention."

Added De Jong: "We don't want to bully our way into the school
system. We have enough to do with our own areas in the province.
We're not forcing our way in, we're just saying we're available, we
will train [VPD officers]. But that's something we have to be invited to."

Sgt. Kirk Star, who's in charge of the VPD school liaison program,
which includes 14 school liaison officers in 18 public city high
schools, said De Jong's comments are unfair.

Two officers give regular drug awareness talks to elementary students
and the high school liaison officers also serve the feeder elementary
schools. Teaching drug awareness is a big part of their jobs, Star
said. "It's a key focal point. Our average seniority is 17 years. So
think about that. You have 17-year seasoned veteran policemen
educating kids, talking to kids, building relationships with kids.
How is that piecemeal?"

Star said the officers' roles in the schools go beyond lecturing
students about the dangers of drug use. Officers also run programs to
build positive relationships with students and to give them
confidence. The programs include a "mini" police academy, the Police
Athletic League and the Hockey Heroes Program for poorer students.

"It's not just some officer coming in giving a lecture over 10
sessions," he said. "Our officers are there all the time. They're
approachable and building relationships."

Vancouver School Board chairman Ken Denike said he wanted to learn
more details about the VPD's drug awareness education before
commenting. But he is impressed with the concept of the VPD school
liaison program.

"It works very well," he said. "But when you hear that somebody is
concerned about what's going on [in the schools], it warrants a query."

Elected to the school board in November 2005, Denike has yet to hear
from the RCMP about its desire to introduce DARE to Vancouver schools.

The controversy comes as the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
released a report last week criticizing DARE and Canada's drug
strategy. Published in the HIV/AIDS Policy and Law Review, the
authors concluded DARE is "ineffective." They quoted a Health Canada
document published in 2001 that said studies published in peer
reviewed journals "have been consistent in showing that the program
does not prevent or delay drug use, nor does it affect future
intentions to drug use."

The B.C. Centre authors said money should be invested in "more
effective" education prevention programs. But, they pointed out, drug
strategy funds in 2004/2005 were used to re-certify 550 DARE officers
and recruit and train another 150.

De Jong said the report's authors don't know enough about DARE and
changes made in 2002 to an initiative that began in B.C. in 1985.