SALEM CITY POLICE SHOW THEY MEAN BUSINESS IN KEEPING YOUTHS AWAY FROM
DRUGS

SALEM -- In a tug-of-war for the future of the city's youth, police
took a hard pull on Tuesday, setting up half a dozen road signs to let
everyone know illicit substances are not welcome here.

At every main city entrance and in front of every school, officials
and authorities erected D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)
placards as more than just a warning, but to help children remember to
make the choice for a drug-free lifestyle.

Surrounding the well-recognized D.A.R.E. logo, with its red letters
sketched across a black background, comes a simple message that reads
"This is a drug free school zone."

Salem City Police Ptl. John Colon, the municipality's D.A.R.E.
instructor, said that young people here are constantly battling peer
pressure, explaining the police and schools will always be there to
provide that counterbalance.

"Our job is to give the kids some resources and reach them," Colon
said. "These signs are supposed to promote our DARE program ... (and)
show the community we are part of it."

A police-led program celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, from
its humble beginnings in Los Angeles, Calif., D.A.R.E. has spread to
75 percent of the nation's school districts, according to the group's
Web site.

In Salem it has grown from merely a fifth-grade course to a class
being taught from pre-kindergarten through fifth now, Colon said.
According to Colon, the program started in 1997 with around 80
children, and this year will be reaching about 400.

The six signs were purchased by the Salem City Municipal Alliance and
the Salem City Police Department, Colon said, and affixed next to the
roadways Tuesday morning.

What they are standing up against is a national trend of substance
abuse, according to D.A.R.E. statistics, which illustrates that 47
percent of teens will have tried an illicit substance by the end of
high school and 72 percent will have consumed alcohol by that time.

Though according to Colon, there are also issues with bullying and a
disconnect between some kids and the police that D.A.R.E. is
attempting to work out.

"D.A.R.E. has given us more of an opportunity to come in contact with
the kids, and build these relationships," Colon said.

With Tuesday's effort, it provides another sign that Salem Police
care.