DARE GETS BAD GRADE FROM STATE GROUP

Local Police Chiefs Take Exception to Report That Claims Drug Program
Doesn't Work

BOSTON -- The Drug Abuse Resistance and Education program, already gutted
by a series of state budget cuts, was dealt another blow this week when a
panel of criminal justice experts issued a report that concludes DARE has
failed to prevent crime.

The report, drafted by the Governor's Commission on Criminal Justice
Innovation, lists DARE as one of 23 state and local crime prevention
programs that "were not found to be effective in preventing crime."

Instead of funding those programs, the commission recommends a "blended
approach" to crime prevention that mixes enforcement and intervention with
prevention programs and social services.

"Involving community-based groups and a wider range of partners in crime
prevention efforts also can improve the legitimacy of law enforcement
responses in urban neighborhoods," the report states.

The commission only mentions DARE briefly in its report and does not
explain how it and other programs, including gun buybacks, neighborhood
watches and storefront police offices, have failed to prevent crime.

Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, chairwoman of the commission, said there is
extensive research to show that DARE has failed in its mission to deter
youngsters from using drugs.

"The goal is to spend our tax dollars on programs that work and not spend
them on programs that we can't prove work," Healey told the News yesterday
in a telephone interview.

Healey credited DARE with fostering close ties between police officers and
children.

"The relationships formed were very beneficial, but the program hasn't
deterred drug use," she said.

The state has not earmarked any funds for DARE programs since the 2002
fiscal year. In the absence of state funding, many communities have either
scrapped their DARE programs or filled the gap with a mix of municipal
funding and private donations.

Budget shortfalls forced the Ashland Police Department to suspend its DARE
program this school year, even though Police Chief Roy Melnick is an
outspoken proponent of the program.

"You can write reports and make statistics say what you want them to say.
But in my view, (DARE) works," Melnick said.

Melnick said he has no doubt that the anti-drug education that younger
children learn in DARE classes carry over to their high school years.

"When they get into high school and are actually exposed to drugs, they've
already had some education about the harm they do," he said.

Framingham Police Chief Steven Carl disagreed, saying DARE classes are
useless if they are not reinforced at the high-school level.

"DARE is a good program, but unfortunately it's outrageously expensive to
do it right," he said. "If it's going to work, it has to be a message that
gets more complex and is reinforced all the way through high school.
Otherwise, kids forget everything they learn and peer pressure takes over."

Framingham abandoned its DARE program several years ago. Instead of having
officers teach a DARE curriculum, Carl's department has two "school
resource officers" assigned to the town's three middle schools and high school.

"These officers are doing enforcement," Carl said. "They're out there as
officers first and they do their educating second."

To keep its DARE program up and running, the Hopkinton Police Department
has filled the void in state funding with a federal Cops in Schools grant.

Hopkinton Police Chief Tom Irvin said the program, which is limited to
fifth-grade, remains popular with students, parents and school
administrators alike.

Irvin said he would not quibble with the report's conclusion that DARE does
not prevent crime.

"In a suburban community like Hopkinton, it's very hard to measure the
program's impact on drug use and other peer-influenced crimes," he said.
"But it works