WAYNE'S DARE PROGRAM TO END

LYONS - Beginning Jan. 1, Wayne County's Drug Abuse Resistance Education -
or DARE - program will end. The often-analyzed drug abuse prevention class
was a victim of a difficult economy, said Sheriff Richard Pisciotti.

"Yes, DARE was cut in the 2004 county budget. There has been a lot more
pressure on the county, with an increase of calls, and that won't change,"
said Pisciotti. "We had to make a decision on economics."

The savings to the county will be between $10,000 and $15,000.

Pisciotti said the DARE program's effectiveness is hard to gauge.

"I think it was effective, but it's hard to put a benchmark on it and
whether it reduces drug possession of DARE graduates in the future," said
Pisciotti. "The biggest thing that DARE did was establish a good rapport
between law enforcement and youth. These kids were able to meet a police
officer and work with them before they would ever have seen them in an
investigation. That type of rapport was valuable."

There were DARE classes run by the Wayne County sheriff's department in
every community except Newark, Palmyra and Sodus; those municipalities run
their own programs.

Newark Police Inv. Gary VerStraete, a certified DARE officer, said there
have been no plans to cut the DARE program in Newark. He said the program
has been streamlined recently, cut from 17 weeks to 10 weeks.

"We think it's an important program. We know it will stay in Newark for at
least the end of the current budget cycle," said VerStraete.

Pisciotti said it's too early to tell if the affected districts will
institute their own DARE programs. Tight budgets continue to be the
deciding factor.

Special road patrols also have been cut in the latest county budget,
Pisciotti said.

Scheduled overtime, which has allowed the sheriff's department to run
special patrols for speeding, traffic details for events such as Canaltown
Days in Palmyra, and extra investigations, has been eliminated, a savings
of about $17,000 from 2003.

"What that did was take away our special patrols, which were highly
effective," Pisciotti said. "It's a negative situation because of the state
of the county right now. If there is a case where both the state police and
sheriff's office are responding, we need personnel to respond to other
incidents. It depletes our patrols." The sheriff said his office has gone
to various lengths to keep all costs down.

"I've ordered deputies not to drive more than 100 miles on a shift to
conserve on gas expenses," said Pisciotti. "We only let them go over if
it's absolutely necessary."

Pisciotti noted there is a strong possibility if deputies and other
personnel leave, that they may not be replaced by the county.

He said the two budget reductions go hand in hand, but neither cut solves a
problem. While the DARE cut allows one more officer to be funded, it won't
make a dent in the need on Wayne County roads.

"The greatest things visible to tax payers to see their tax dollars at work
are through the highway department, emergency medical services and police,"
said Pisciotti. "This will be a long-term issue, because this budget is
already in place.

"The county can bury their heads in the sand when they cut from the budget,
but I can't. I have a responsibility to the people. The crime rate is
directly related to the tax rate."