NEW DARE OFFICER HOPES TO EMPOWER CHILDREN TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES

The success of law enforcement depends on prevention, according to
Dep. Chris Love, Moorpark's new Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer.

The same people get arrested for drug charges over and over, so the
war on drugs is futile unless it's fought before children are tempted
to use narcotics, said Love. He was the DARE officer in Thousand Oaks
before coming to Moorpark.

DARE helps children deal with peer pressure and avoid temptation, Love
said.

Love seeks to empower Moorpark fifth graders to make safe and healthy
choices. "I want to teach the kids about the dangers of drugs before
they reach the upper grade levels," he said.

As the father of three teenagers, Love stays up-to-date with recent
trends in public schools, he said, because his children tell him about
things they see and hear.

"We don't claim to reach every student, but I know we continue to
reach a small population that needs our guidance," said Love. Many
students, teachers and parents have told him, he said, that DARE has
had a positive effect on them.

The program was cancelled in Thousand Oaks when that city opted to pay
for three high school resource officers instead of the DARE program.

It was also in jeopardy of being dropped in Moorpark because of the
cost, but city officials opted to fund it for another year, along with
the resource officer position at the high school, despite the
financial constraints.

Many school districts started to implement new programs like Project
ALERT, which is taught by school staff instead of law enforcement
officers. It replaces DARE and saves money, but it's not as effective,
according to Love. Additional programs should supplement DARE, not
replace it, Love said.

DARE officials are working on a survey that would substantiate its
effectiveness because the program has received some recent negative
publicity. Love, however, believes that DARE does work for some kids.

"The amount of drugs that flow into this country in relation to law
enforcements efforts to fight them is like standing in the middle of
river with your hands outstretched in an attempt to stop the flow of
the river," Love said.

Reducing the demand for drugs is the best way to fight the problem and
it must happen before the onset of addiction, he said.

In addition to teaching the DARE curriculum, Love plans to teach
Internet safety to students in Moorpark, using a power point
presentation that he's created.

He also wants to help students understand the negative impacts of
vandalism, to reduce this type of crime in Moorpark.

"Dep. Love has a lot of street experience which is what you need to
relate to the students in class," said Jeff Matson, captain of the
Moorpark Police Department.

The city subcontracts with Ventura County Sheriff's Department for law
enforcement services.

Love has been with the department for 13 years. He worked in the
courts and detention facilities and became a jail training officer.

He was then assigned to patrol in Thousand Oaks and was promoted to
field training officer after eight years.

Having received 40 hours of crisis intervention training, Love could
handle cases involving developmentally disabled and mentally ill people.

Love graduated from Pierce College and attended Moorpark College and
Cal State Northridge, where he prepared himself for a career in law
enforcement by taking criminal justice courses.

He now lives in Simi Valley with his wife of 17 years, and their three
children who are 16, 14 and 11 years old.