DARE SETTING UP OFFICE IN NEW TIMMINS POLICE SERVICE BUILDING

The list of community service groups that will have a home in the new
Timmins Police Service building, due to open July 23, continues to
grow with the addition of DARE.

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program has been running in the
Timmins area since 1985, teaching Grade 6 students how to deal with
peer pressure when asked to try drugs and other illegal activities.
Const. Jeff Del Guidice said the advantages to having the program
under the same roof as other police services are clear.

"We won't have to send anyone looking for information about DARE down
to the Third Avenue office anymore," he said. "We'll have all our
partners under one roof.

"The new police building will provide the community with one-stop
shopping. It will be available 24 hours a day now."

Del Guidice said future announcements about Victim Crisis Assistance
& Referral Services and an accident-reporting centre are in the works as well.

A DARE officer for several years, Const. Rick Lemieux said the new
office will be a welcome addition to the program.

"As police officers, we see a lot of negative things when we work,
but DARE is very positive," Lemieux said during the news conference.
"It's great to see the kids' reaction to the teaching."

Board member and former police chief Denis Lavoie was proud to see
the legacy of DARE in Timmins, the first version of the program to be
offered bilingually, carry on at the new facility.

"When I was chief of police, parents would often come up to me and
say, 'Don't get rid of this program. We need it,'" Lavoie said.

"Chief Laperriere has done a great job of keeping this program going
that Chief Joe Harwood got started."