OFFICERS' WORK IN GREAT, DARE HONORED

Police Chief Lee Doehring Says He'd Better Sharpen His Investigative Skills.

Though he realized, in hindsight, he'd gotten plenty of clues, he was
nonetheless surprised as officers Mark Lingenfelser and Larry Zink when
representatives of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
walked into the commission meeting last week. Other city officials,
however, knew ATF agent Mark James and ATF spokesman Larry Scott were
making presentations to all three for their exemplary GREAT and DARE
programs. GREAT stands for Gang Resistance Education and Training; DARE is
the acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

To make sure all the players were at the meeting, city manager Gary Ortiz
asked Doehring to publicly acknowledge Lingenfelser and Zink's work. That's
what he was doing when James and Scott walked into Fire Station No. 1,
where commissioners are meeting until city hall remodeling is complete.
Doehring noted that Zink implemented DARE 15 years ago, and has since added
GREAT. He's been involved with GREAT for 11 years.

Lingenfelser started with DARE in 1993 and expanded his expertise to the
GREAT program two years later. Both Lingenfelser and Zink thanked not only
commissioners and the staff, but also the schools where they work, which
they called "very supportive."

"Without them, we couldn't do anything," Zink said. Doehring and James
pointed out Zink's work has expanded far beyond the city of Leavenworth,
since he serves on the national curriculum and review board for GREAT.

"They are the GREAT program," James said of the two officers. "They're the
ones who've interested the kids" and convinced them the objectives of this
program are important.

He and Scott spoke of attending summer camps and observing the friendships
the officers have forged with the students, evidenced by their laughter and
"hugging them."

"The schools bend over backward for us," Zink said.

But both men say it's the students who make it all worthwhile.

And now, Zink said, "We've got a lot of students whose parents were in GREAT."

James lauded the efforts of U.S. Sen. Bob Kerry of Nebraska, who he said
was able to pump money into the GREAT program and also spearheaded efforts
to get an academic study of its effectiveness. The University of Nebraska
contacted that study, using five-year follow-ups of participants.

Zink said the results of that study influenced changes in the GREAT program.

"It told us that eight lessons were not enough," he said. "We expanded it
because of the study."

The study also influenced a new effort at the third- and fourth-grade
level, Zink said, which Leavenworth plans to pilot at Lawson Elementary,
since it's a year-round school.