COUNCIL MEMBERS PUSH FOR RETURN OF D.A.R.E. DRUG PROGRAM

A popular anti-drug program for youth that suffered major budget and
personnel cuts last year now has the support of several community
leaders who are trying to revive it.

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Fifth District Councilwoman Gerrie
Schipske asked City Manager Jerry Miller and Police Chief Tony Batts
to look into the feasibility of increasing police resources to expand
the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education).

"I want to find out if in fact we can reinstate it and get a handle
on why it was cut," Schipske said. "The community seems to want to
have it (back) in some format. It has been a very positive experience
for a lot of school-aged children."

DARE is a series of classroom lessons led by police officers, who
teach students how to live drug- and violence-free lives. The Long
Beach Police Department currently pays two retired police officers to
run the DARE program, while the independently-run DARE board raises
money to pay for classroom supplies and the officers' annual DARE
training, according to Officer Rich Bargas of the DARE detail.

Previously, the police department had five full-time officers and
about three part-time officers in the DARE program. Bargas said the
department had to cut back last year because various officers were
reassigned and promoted, but never replaced.

Now, Bargas and another officer teach 50- to 60-minute DARE lessons
to fifth graders at eight public schools throughout the city. The
DARE America curriculum -- which stands for Define, Assess, Respond,
Evaluate --they use focuses on decision-making.

Despite the program's cutbacks, Bargas said there is still a great
desire in the community to keep it going.

"The desire is there, but the manpower is not," he said. "And I
really don't know the answer to that."

Betty Thompson (DARE board member and director of health and safety
for the Long Beach PTA Council) said the DARE board is offering the
city $35,000 to help pay for overtime costs for former DARE officers
to return to classrooms and to add 15 more schools.

"I'm hoping they will bring back on two to three officers and then we
can expand the program E get into more schools, give our kids a more
positive view of our officers," Thompson said.

Bargas agreed. He said with the increasing glorification of gangs on
TV, children are getting involved in gangs at an earlier age.

The DARE program is important because it brings the officers into the
classrooms and helps children see the police in a more positive
light, he added.

"We have some kids we're dealing with that are really high-risk,"
Bargas said. "The only stability they have is in school, going to
school. Our hope is that we can bend them from that thought of
getting involved in gang violence."

"When you teach kids, you're going to have them making better
decisions," Thompson added.

As part of Schipske's request, the city manager and police chief will
report back to the City Council regarding the expansion of the DARE
program at an upcoming meeting.