CITY SEES DRUG ARRESTS JUMP

Chief: Rise May Not Be 'Directly' Related to Dropped D.A.R.E.

The average number of Winchester kids arrested each year for drugs has
increased by roughly 30 percent since the city dropped the Drug Abuse
Resistance Education program from its public schools five years ago.

But Winchester Police Chief Gary W. Reynolds said it is unlikely the rise
is directly linked to the program's absence.

"I don't think that we can simply take our arrest statistics and make a
broad brush statement that this is directly correlated to that," Reynolds
said. "I think ... it might call for perhaps more research, not only for
the Police Department, but also for the school system and the community."

Winchester Public Schools dropped the program in 1999 to devote more class
time to Standards of Learning test preparation.

Last week, City Council's Community Safety and Services Committee discussed
bringing the program back after reviewing adult drug arrest records from
December 2003.

Winchester Police Department statistics show average juvenile drug arrest
rates have increased since the D.A.R.E. program was dropped.

From 1999 to 2003, Winchester Police made 146 juvenile drug arrests,
averaging about 29 per year. From 1994 to 1998, police made 111 drug
arrests, averaging just more than 22 per year.

Reynolds said though those statistics do not prove juvenile drug use has
increased, he still would like to see the D.A.R.E. program return to the
Winchester schools.

Students should have an opportunity to interact with a law enforcement
officer in a classroom to discuss substance abuse and violence prevention,
Reynolds said.

"I personally believe that the D.A.R.E. program is beneficial," he said.
"And it has been expanded to include violence prevention in addition to
substance abuse prevention."

Students' education in the perils of drug and alcohol abuse has not
suffered from the loss of the program, said George Craig, coordinator of
curriculum and instruction for the Winchester Public Schools.

After dropping D.A.R.E., the school system began using a program called
"The Great Body Shop," which Craig said incorporates drug, alcohol, and
tobacco education into daily class work.

The D.A.R.E. program was an extracurricular activity, removing students
from class to spend time talking with a police officer about the health and
legal effects of drug, alcohol, and tobacco use, Craig said.

The two programs teach similar things, but "The Great Body Shop" does it
during class time, he said.

"So when kids were studying the body in grade four, for example, it made
sense to teach them about the effect smoking had on their lungs," Craig said.

Jamie Clark, a Winchester resident and former D.A.R.E. student, said her
time in the program made her decide to stay drug-free.

"The consequences of doing drugs is what got to me," Clark said. "It wasn't
worth spending 20 years in prison to get high."

Having a police officer in her classroom reinforced that decision, Clark said.

"The impression that a cop comes in and just kind of sits down in your
classroom with you, I think it's more realistic," she said. "I think it's
more influential to have a cop in there to tell you, 'Hey this could happen
to you.'"

The school system has not "closed the door" on D.A.R.E., Craig said, but
added that Winchester Public Schools has not seen an increase in student
drug use since it dropped the program.

"Usually we have one or two or three (incidents of drug use) per year," he
said. "Three's a little high sometimes."

Reynolds said bringing D.A.R.E. back to Winchester's elementary schools is
just one of his goals.

"I would like to see it expanded into the middle school as well as the high
school," he said.

"Also, if the program were implemented again in the city schools, I would
like to sponsor a D.A.R.E. program for parents, because I believe that it's
equally as important to educate parents on substance abuse issues - what to
look for, what to expect, how to deal with suspicious behavior, and so
forth - and such a program would provide a comprehensive substance abuse
prevention for our community," Reynolds said.