BLOODS TAKE A DARE

Blood Tribe Police Const. Dale Murphy DAREs to be different. Murphy
is blazing new ground as the police departments Drug Abuse Resistance
Education officer. The program, first established in California about
a dozen years ago, teaches children how to resist pressure to take
drugs or abuse alcohol.

Murphy believes he's the first aboriginal police officer in Canada to
instruct the 17-week course on his own reserve. While he was among 35
policeman most of them RCMP officers recently sent to Edmonton for
DARE training, he points out aboriginal mounties are usually stationed
far from their home turf.

Given his unique situation, Murphy knows hell be under the microscope
to some extent. A lot of people are wondering, is it going to work?
he says. Murphy, for one, can only see benefits from the familiarity
he enjoys. I think its a big benefit because Im a uniformed officer
and from the reserve so they can relate to me a little bit more, he
says.

It's also a benefit in that Murphy knows many of the students parents
and the home situation they find themselves in. The officer began
instructing the program in late November. Although the course is aimed
at Grade 6 students, he also deals on a less formal basis with younger
and older students, some 400 in all.

The Blood Tribe Police were looking for some means to get positive
messages across to students and Murphy learned about the DARE program
being taught in Lethbridge schools.

I thought, that's a perfect thing to start out here. In other DARE
programs Murphy says police often speak to students before they have
first-hand knowledge of substance abuse. Some of the students he
speaks to on the reserve may have already seen such problems at home
and the message he provides may have more impact.

I'm not saying every person here comes from a home where drugs or
alcohol are abused, but at least they're getting the tools to use if
they're ever faced with those problems, he says.

The DARE program was also a means to increase police presence in the
schools and provide a positive image. Murphy recalls the first day he
walked into a school in uniform and several kids yelled police before
scattering.

Now they know when it's DARE day and they're running up to me wanting
to talk, he says. The DARE curriculum is presented through lectures
as well as skits and other activities. Murphy says he's not there to
just tell students to say no to drugs and booze. Instead, he hopes to
build up the students self-esteem so they can deal with peer pressure.

He also informs them of the consequences of substance abuse, both
criminal and health-wise. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program
not only benefits the students, but also police in the long run.

If we can stop them (from abusing substances) here, at least we don't
have to deal with them in the future, says Murphy. My goal is not
necessarily to help every student on the reserve because that's not
realistic. But if we can reach a few of them and break the cycle of
use and misuse of alcohol, thats a start.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry