D.A.R.E. PROGRAM ARRIVES ON MARCO WITH A LOT OF FLASH

Residents of Marco Island may have thought the place was under attack with
the appearance of more than a few police vehicles streaming onto the island
and parking outside the Hilton hotel.

On closer examination, they were not quite like the conservative vehicles
driven by our law enforcement officers. These cars were hot! In more ways
than one - most of them had a very hot history as some of them had printed
on their sides boldly: "This vehicle was confiscated from a drug user" or a
drunk driver. Wildly painted and all souped up, the cars will be part of a
contest later in the week. Thus the D.A.R.E., officers of the Drug Abuse
Resistance Education Program rolled into town for a five-day convention.

The opening breakfast was attended by Senator Bert Saunders, Sheriff Don
Hunter, Marco Police Chief Roger Reinke, Commissioner Donna Fiala, and
other local political and law enforcement figures as well as D.A.R.E
America representative John Lindsey, other D.A.R.E spokesmen and law
enforcement officers from all over Florida.

Sheriff Hunter spoke of the reemergence of dangerous drugs and the toxic
cocktails young people are combining with alcohol.

"The public and parents seem to have given up. They put their kids through
all kinds of very expensive programs and don't know where to draw the line."

Hunter said schools present a "soft target" to terrorists and although law
enforcement doesn't want to create "a fortress" in a school, it's a
delicate balance in which the D.A.R.E. program plays a small but very
crucial role to enforce law, safety and security.

Chief Reinke read a Proclamation from the city, declaring it D.A.R.E week
on Marco Island. He reiterated the need for drug education, to offer good
choices for children. He also emphasized the need for officers to build
good relationships with the schools in order to earn the confidence of the
children.

Commissioner Donna Fiala presented a Proclamation from Collier County,
declaring it D.A.R.E week in the county and thanking officers of D.A.R.E.
who helped her "15-year old troubled child become a healthy 28-year old
man," saying it was a privilege to honor those who helped save her son.

John Lindsey of D.A.R.E. America described some of the changes and
improvements to the program as a result of reassessment. Results are part
of an ongoing five-year tracking study by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, he said. The study involves 19,000 students from 83 high
schools and 122 middle schools across the country.

Every program has cynics, Lindsey admitted, and research figures are good
ammunition. Of the students who received the new D.A.R.E. curriculum, more
students decided against using drugs, more found drug use socially
inappropriate and believed fewer peers used drugs, fewer reported intent to
use inhalants, and more learned how to refuse to use drugs.

Part of the new D.A.R.E. look will involve training every officer as a
School Resource Officer (SROs) to be able to spend more time assisting
within the schools.

Officers will spend the week attending enrichment seminars.