ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM IS A VICTIM OF LOCKPORT POLICE'S STAFFING WOES

LOCKPORT - The city Police Department's short-handed status has led to
suspension of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program for
fifth-graders, and it may not return until fall.

The police force, which has an authorized strength of 53, lost six officers
to retirement at the end of 2002, while five others are off duty because of
injuries.

The Common Council has allowed the hiring of four officers, but Police
Chief Neil B. Merritt said they won't be on duty for a few weeks - in the
case of two officers transferring from other departments - or several
months - in the case of two rookies.

Merritt said he decided to suspend the DARE program "once it became
apparent that we were going to have more than a couple of retirees, and
then we started having injuries on the job."

The program calls for officers to work full-time giving the class in each
fifth-grade classroom in the Lockport district's seven elementary schools.

Lockport had two officers assigned to the program, Douglas E. Haak and
Richard A. Provenzano. Merritt decided their services were necessary on
patrol, and the program was suspended instead of starting anew this month.

The chief said calling off DARE, even temporarily, was "a very difficult
decision."

Merritt said, "I realize how popular the program is, and I believe in the
program 100 percent. It's a wonderful program."

"We're for DARE, and we'd like to see it reinstated," Lockport School
Superintendent Bruce T. Fraser said. "We'll just have to take a
wait-and-see attitude and hope the program can be restored when the police
manpower situation improves."

There is a deadline of sorts if the program is to be restored during the
current school year.

"If we get it back in the near future, it'll be in the next couple of
weeks," Merritt said. "Once we reach Feb. 1, we won't be able to do
anything." That's because the DARE course is 17 weeks long.

Wednesday, Merritt told an audience of pupils and parents at the Common
Council meeting that he was investigating whether injured officers not
ready for full duty could be used to teach the course this year, but he
wasn't sure if that could be arranged. City officials also promised to look
into audience suggestions that retired DARE officers from Lockport or other
jurisdictions be sought to keep the program going this year. However,
Merritt wasn't sure about its legality. Union objections could be raised to
giving union members' work to non-members.

Lydia McCarthy of Chapel Street believes in the program so much that she
took time off from work to attend a Common Council committee meeting Jan. 8
and urge DARE's retention.

McCarthy said, "Two of my children have gone through the DARE program, and
it's made a tremendous difference in their lives." She said she wanted her
third child to have the chance this year.

McCarthy offered to raise money to keep the program going, telling the
Council it cost only $2,000. City officials said they had no idea where
McCarthy got that figure. "It costs the officer's salary for a 17-week
program," Merritt said. "What it's costing now is time and a half to
replace that officer."

Merritt and Police Board President James F. Gugliuzza told McCarthy the
issue wasn't money, but manpower. Although Gugliuzza told reporters after
the meeting that he intended to do "everything in our power" to revive the
program quickly, options appear lacking.

Alderman Joseph C. Kibler, R-at Large, suggested asking the Niagara County
Sheriff's Department, which teaches DARE in schools outside the borders of
the county's three cities, to pick up the Lockport classes.

Sheriff Thomas A. Beilein said he is "willing but not able. We just don't
have the resources."

Fraser said he had discussed the situation with Merritt and Mayor Thomas C.
Sullivan.

"The mayor has assured me he'd like to restore it as soon as possible,"
Fraser said. "They're both good people with tough jobs and tough decisions
to make."

Sullivan said of Fraser, "He's going to look for some options. I'm not sure
what the next step is."

"Character education should be part of everything we do from kindergarten
to grade 12," Fraser said. "If need be, we'll step in with something in the
character education area of our own for the fifth grade."

Merritt said that besides teaching children how to avoid becoming involved
in drugs and alcohol abuse, the curriculum of the DARE program bolsters
their self-esteem and improves their "comportment."

It's also good public relations for the Police Department. "It humanizes
the police officer to (the children)," Merritt said.

Fraser said that under normal circumstances the program was used in three
elementary schools during one semester of the year and four schools in the
other semester.

Merritt said using former DARE officers, even retirees, is not really an
option because the officers who teach the program must have state
certifications, which he said lapse after two years if not kept up.

He said the DARE van, donated to the Police Department by local auto dealer
Paul Mullane, may be used to try to keep the program visible. He said it
would not be converted to regular law enforcement use.

McCarthy vowed to keep pushing for DARE's restoration, warning aldermen,
"You're going to hate me before this is through."