SHERIFF'S DEPUTY MADE A CAREER OF HELPING CHILDREN

Sgt. Kenneth Waters, a longtime officer with the Beaufort County Sheriff's
Office, was recently named North Carolina's 2003 DARE Officer of the Year
at the DARE Officers Association Conference in Charlotte.

Waters, who has been a county drug abuse resistance education, or DARE,
officer since 1981, said his love of children has been a catalyst for his
career. "If it just helps one child, it's worth all the time and effort,"
Waters said of the DARE program.

Each year the DARE Officer of the Year award is presented at the state
conference to an officer currently involved in the DARE program. According
to a press release from the Sheriff's Office, recipients of the award have
demonstrated high moral standards for themselves and others. The award is
named for the late Ralph Robinson, who was sheriff of Perquimans County.

"I was really surprised and I didn't know I had been nominated," Waters
said of the Jan. 8 awards ceremony.

The sergeant was nominated by the county's other DARE officer, Leonard
Hudson, as well as Sheriff Alan Jordan and Pam Hodges, principal of Bath
Elementary School.

"The best judgment of all is the judgment of one's peers," Jordan, who was
the county's first DARE officer, said in the press release. "I am thankful
that this office has an outstanding individual like Sgt. Waters as our DARE
Officer."

"I've been teaching so long; it feels really good," Waters said. "I'm
really grateful to Leonard, the sheriff and to Mrs. Hodges for nominating me."

Bath Elementary is one of many area schools where Waters teaches. He
teaches 14 fifth-grade classes throughout the county.

"Fifth grade is the last grade in elementary school and we want to get to
them before middle school," said Waters.

Waters began teaching the program in 1990, shortly after the program came
to Beaufort County. His desire to rid the county of drugs affected his
decision to take the position, he said.

"I always liked kids," he said. "We had filled up the jail, locking
everybody up, and that didn't stop the drug problem."

The sergeant said that, in his nearly 15 years of experience, he has found
that many fifth-graders aren't novices when it comes to drugs.

"A lot of them know about it," he said. "They hear about people in their
community who are doing it."

Waters receives training twice a year. He completed a two-week course
before becoming a DARE officer.

"We teach what drugs are, what they look like, what they do to the body,
and about addiction," he said. "The three drugs we talk about the most are
alcohol, marijuana and tobacco. It's so easy for them to get those. They
can get tobacco and alcohol at home."

The deputy said he has been involved with children his entire career. In
addition to teaching the DARE curriculum, Waters was a referee for middle-
and high-school basketball games for 23 years. He is frequently invited to
attend school trips and provides security for after-school events.

"We're about kids and letting kids be around us," Waters said of the
Sheriff's Office. "We want to help them so that one day they won't be in
our jail or dead."