SOME HAVE IT, SOME DON'T - A LOOK AT D.A.R.E. PROGRAMS IN KING COUNTY

The Bellevue Police Department is one of several King County cities to
end its Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, while
other cities and school districts have continued theirs. Here's a rundown:

Auburn

Officer Leslie Jordan, a five-year veteran of the Auburn Police
Department, took over the department's D.A.R.E. program in January. It
targets fifth-graders in the Auburn School District with a 10-week
program that puts Jordan in a classroom at the district's elementary
schools for 45 minutes each week.

Though she doesn't have a lot of experience, she thinks the program is
worth it for the community.

``The main purpose is to enlighten them about the things they will run
into,'' she said. The program, which follows the D.A.R.E. America
Program outline, delves into the use of tobacco and alcohol as well as
marijuana and inhalants.

Besides straightforward information about the dangers of those drugs,
the program teaches students how to recognize and resist peer pressure
to smoke or drink. She said it can give children tools to deal with
real-life pressures.

Does it do any good? Jordan said she has heard the criticism that
D.A.R.E. isn't effective, but she doesn't buy it.

``I don't know if someone can evaluate it,'' she said. ``We never see
the people it works for.''

The program includes a workbook as well as an end-of-session essay
contest in which students write about what they have learned and what
the D.A.R.E. program has meant to them. There is a D.A.R.E. program
graduation, which is attended by community leaders such as the police
chief, the mayor and the school superintendent. Each student gets a
certificate and essay winners get special awards.

Besides her salary, she said the cost is minimal: about $7,500 a year
in supplies. And when she isn't teaching D.A.R.E., she works as a
regular police officer on the streets.

Bellevue

The Bellevue Police Department is ending its involvement in the
D.A.R.E. program after 17 years.

Police Chief Jim Montgomery said numerous studies show that students
in the D.A.R.E. program are no more likely to be deterred from using
tobacco, alcohol and drugs in later years than students who do not
participate in the program.

Montgomery plans to use the $75,000 to $80,000 in salary and benefits
for the D.A.R.E. officer, along with administrative support, to add a
school resource officer for the middle schools in the Bellevue School
District. Each high school already has an officer assigned to it.

Issaquah

The Issaquah Police Department has run a D.A.R.E. program for more
than 20 years in the two elementary schools within city limits, Clark
and Issaquah Valley.

The current D.A.R.E. officer, Karin Bakken, visits the fifth-grade
classrooms for 10 weeks, holding talks about the harmful effects of
tobacco, marijuana and alcohol and stressing the importance of
friendship foundations.

``It really breaks down the barriers between law enforcement and
students,'' Bakken said. ``It's a great fit for the elementary school
age.''

Sources of funding for the program include the city and the Issaquah
School District, but donations also come from local clubs such as
Kiwanis, Elks and Eagles, and also at the Tastin' and Racin' Hydro
Race in the summer.

Kent

Kent police officials phased out the D.A.R.E. program three years ago,
largely because it meant removing an officer from patrol or other duties.

``It was a staffing issue. It's a full-time job,'' said Steve Holt, a
Kent patrol officer who was the D.A.R.E. officer for two years.

Holt believes D.A.R.E. helped many students. Besides focusing on drug
and alcohol awareness, it also taught kids how to resist peer pressure
to do something wrong, how to recognize bullying and ``potential
violence,'' and encouraged students to contact a responsible adult to
prevent more serious problems.

``I think it made a big impact with a lot of students,'' Holt
said.

Since D.A.R.E. classes were dropped, Kent schools have introduced
several curriculum programs with similar goals, such as The Great Body
Shop course, which teaches students how drug and alcohol use affects
the body.

It also teaches ``refusal skills'' that children can use to resist
peer pressure. Police or school security officers also visit
elementary and middle school classes to talk with students about
personal safety and other issues.

King County

In 1998, then-Sheriff Dave Reichert dropped the popular D.A.R.E.
program during the early years of county belt-tightening that saw tens
of millions of dollars in budget cuts. But he beefed up the number of
school resource officers, using federal grants and money from school
districts.

Today, the Sheriff's Office has 12 full-time and 25 part-time school
resource officers who serve high schools and junior highs or middle
schools in unincorporated areas and contract cities.

The personal one-on-one contact with students has proved ``very
successful,'' said Sgt. Reid Johnson, coordinator of the program. The
officers, he said, have a ``real calming effect.''

The officers teach classes or talk to students about drugs, alcohol
and the law. The students, he said, especially like to talk about
their rights during a traffic stop.

The high schools served by county officers include Eastlake and
Skyline high schools in Sammamish, Liberty High School east of Renton,
Tahoma High School in Maple Valley and Mountainview High School in
Auburn's Lea Hill and the Muckleshoot Tribal School on the Enumclaw
Plateau.

Kirkland

The Kirkland Police Department dropped its D.A.R.E. program several
years ago.

Redmond

Redmond started a D.A.R.E. program in the mid-1980s, but phased it out
by the end of the 2000-2001 school year.

Police Lt. Doug Shepard called the D.A.R.E. program ``very
curriculum-specific,'' adding that ``the curriculum cannot be altered
or taught in any other way than what they prescribe.''

Instead, the Redmond Police Department adopted a program used by the
Kirkland police, called Police Partners, which had a similar goal and
method of educating kids about healthy behavior.

But the Police Partners program offered the officers more flexibility
in how they approached it, and the Redmond cops made it available to
all elementary grades.

``What we did find was that parents, teachers, staff and kids received
day to day contact with police officers starting from kindergarten.
And their positive contact with the police officer in elementary
school transferred to junior high and high school,'' Shepard said.

In the fall of 2005, however, the officer who ran the program was
promoted, and the position has not been filled because the department
doesn't have the staff for it.

Renton

The Renton Police Department dropped its long-standing D.A.R.E.
program about six years ago, said spokeswoman Penny Bartley.

The department considered research that showed students need to have
access to officers on a regular basis, rather than occasionally in a
class, she said. Also, the message needed to go beyond drug education,
she said.

The Renton School District also wanted the officers to work with
middle school and high school students, she said. Typically, the
D.A.R.E. program targets elementary students.

It wasn't a budget issue. The police department expanded the school
program to four school resource officers, from two D.A.R.E. officers.
Those SROs staff Renton and Hazen high schools and McKnight and Nelsen
middle schools.

Bartley said the officers develop relationships with the students and
they know ``if trouble is brewing that they need to address,'' she
said. They also make presentations to classes and work with school
officials on security measures, she said.

The district's other high school, Lindbergh, and its third middle
school, Dimmitt, are in unincorporated King County and are served by a
Sheriff's Office school resource officer. The Dimmitt officer also
serves the Black River Alternative High School.

Seattle

The Seattle Police Department ended its D.A.R.E. program in
1999.

``There was a national evaluation that showed it just wasn't producing
the results we wanted,'' spokesman Rich Pruitt said. ``Also, it didn't
leave flexibility. During a time of budget tightness we discontinued
it.''

Journal reporters Mike Archbold, David Grant, Erica Hall, Dean Radford
and Chris Winters contributed to this report.