GLENDALE POLICE DEFEND D.A.R.E.

Effectiveness Of Drug And Alcohol Resistance Program Was Questioned In A
National Report.

GLENDALE -- Glendale Police officials say they don't doubt the
effectiveness of substance abuse education programs like D.A.R.E., even if
a national report released last week does.

"Unlike some groups, we don't look at D.A.R.E. subjectively," police
spokesman Sgt. Bruce Fox said. "When society's drug problems go up, there's
still kids that we're saving. But it's impossible to know the number."

A six-year study done by the National Center on Addiction and Substance
Abuse reported Wednesday that "while they may be helpful in developing the
students' perception of risk and ... in enhancing the will and skills to
say no, a few classroom hours on substance abuse is likely to be of
marginal impact ... on student behavior." Officials with the Glendale
Police Department, which has officers teach the D.A.R.E. classes, said
officers spend 17 weeks each year in every public school sixth-grade
classroom and teach students more than just the basics of "saying no."

"It's about teaching them to be assertive, to learn and observe role
models, the consequences of their actions and alternative activities," Fox
said, adding that the department has other youth programs to back up its
message.

The agency's Police Activities League offers after-school basketball and
boxing programs. The officers' contact with the students does not stop
after sixth grade, officials said.

Officers like Rich Ulrich go into middle school and high school classes to
reinforce the D.A.R.E. curriculum and build upon it.

"What I do know is that we have a great rapport with the kids," D.A.R.E.
Educator Officer Carla Haupt said, adding that some of the officers go
beyond the classroom, eating their lunches in the school cafeterias.

The biggest obstacle, officials said, is getting parents and the community
to reinforce the anti-abuse stance.