LOCAL D.A.R.E. GETS NEW MASCOT AS PROGRAM GROWS

ROSS TOWNSHIP -- Justice, a German shepherd puppy, casually wandered around
Mrs. Baker's first-grade classroom at Elda Elementary School.

He paused as little hands reached out to pat his head, then stretched out
underneath one of the desk tables.

The 5-month-old former shelter dog was rightfully tired after a long day of
petting, playtime and praise. But it wasn't all fun and games. The whole
time Justice was helping to educate scores of children how to stay off of
drugs.

Justice was recently acquired to be the first-ever animal mascot for the
Butler County Sheriff's Office Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.

His new role in Butler County coincides with D.A.R.E.'s nation-wide push to
revamp and update its curriculum for the 21st Century.

"We have a whole new curriculum. The old program it was all me talking. Now
we have the kids interact," said Deputy Allen Clark, who, until recently
was the Sheriff's Office's sole D.A.R.E. officer.

Clark has since been joined by Deputy Jody Cobaugh and Justice as the
Sheriff's Office looked to keep the drug prevention program on the front
burner.

"One officer wasn't enough to get the message to the kids and the schools.
The motto of the sheriff and (Chief Deputy Richard) Jones is 'kids count.'
The quicker you can get to these kids, the better off they're going to be,"
Clark said. "These programs work. Statistics for teens and preteens smoking
are down as well as drugs and alcohol (statistics)."

The national preventative program was originally developed in Los Angeles.
The program consists of uniformed law enforcement officers attempting to
give children the skills to resist the temptation of illegal drugs.

The new nationwide D.A.R.E. curriculum is in its third year of a massive
five-year national research effort funded by a federal grant. The
curriculum is designed to blend the latest in effective prevention science
with the nation's largest prevention delivery network, according to
D.A.R.E.'s official Web site.

Butler County's D.A.R.E. officers now interact more with the children and
adjust the discussions to keep the students involved. Justice is part of
that effort to keep students' attention.

"We're more of a coach. Usually when they see a police officer, Mom or Dad
is getting a ticket. We want them to know they're our friend," Cobaugh said.

Some national studies have indicated D.A.R.E. is ineffective. But in Butler
County, officials say that just isn't true.

"There's been some controversy over D.A.R.E. in the U.S. Some support it,
some do not," said Chief Deputy Richard Jones. "What we've found is it's a
great asset to have officers in schools interacting with the kids, teachers
and parents. It's come back triple-fold for us. It's just a great program
for us locally."

D.A.R.E. is widely viewed as an optional program and is often the first
thing to be cut when budgets get tight.

"That's not going to happen here," Jones said. "The young kids in our
schools are our future."

The Sheriff's Office immediately embraced Justice as the D.A.R.E. mascot.
Officials said the dog, adopted by Cobaugh from Animal Friends Humane
Society in Trenton, may eventually be trained to conduct narcotics searches.

The puppy's impact was evident at Elda Elementary School last week.

"Hi Justice," a line of first-graders called as they followed their teacher
down the hall.

During the D.A.R.E. class the students were eager to participate in the
discussions and demonstrations on things like "Stranger Danger" and
personal space as the dog casually wandered the room.

But the dog and the program are about more than entertainment, officials
said. They are about reaching the kids and making that critical connection
that will help one more child know to say "no" to drugs.

It can be a decision that will shape the rest of their lives, officials said.

"It's preventative maintenance," Cobaugh said. "An ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure."