DARE OFFICER TURNS FUND-RAISER AS PROGRAM SUFFERS CUTBACKS

When the Cape Girardeau patrolman Jeff Bonham learned the Missouri State
Highway Patrol would no longer supply materials to the city's Drug and
Alcohol Resistance Education, or DARE, program, he put out a call for backup.

"I had no idea there would be a cut on our supplies," he said. "My first
reaction was to go out and seek donations."

His plea was answered by a $2,000 donation from Drury Hotels earlier this
month. When Bonham approached the company, the owners immediately stepped
up, said Eric Strand, vice president of sales and marketing.

"The Drury family feels it was the right thing to do and wanted to support
it," he said. "We appreciate the work the officers are doing in the schools
and felt it was important to give something back."

For the last 12 years, the patrol supplied study materials, including
student workbooks, pencils and certificates, to about 260 Missouri law
enforcement agencies. But in the fall, it announced the expense was cut,
said Lt. Ed Moses, DARE administrator.

"Next year, unless we get some legislative approval, we can't have any
money to provide workbooks," he said. "And starting in January, those
departments will have to pay for our two-week DARE officer training courses
themselves, too, at a cost of about $500 an officer."

Initially, the patrol paid for DARE supplies in combination with a grant
beginning in 1989 at a cost of $840,000, Moses said. The amount budgeted
for DARE has gradually declined since, and for the last four years the
patrol has provided the materials without the aid of any grants. For 2002,
the patrol budgeted about $200,000 for DARE.

Moses is hopeful that at least one legislator will sponsor a bill
introduced by the patrol, asking for $300,000 to fund DARE expenses and
training for drug recognition experts in schools. But he's also trying to
be realistic.

"This is not the year to be asking for money," he said.

This has been Bonham's first year teaching the course. He has more than 600
students, including all sixth-graders at Cape Girardeau public schools, St.
Vincent's Junior High, St. Mary's Parish Center, and Trinity Lutheran, and
all the fifth-graders at Nell Holcomb School. He is also the school
resource officer for the city's public elementary schools.

"When I get in the classrooms, I'm real enthusiastic," he said. "You've got
to make it fun, so the kids will pay attention and learn the material. DARE
is not going to keep some kids off drugs, but it does teach them how to
resist drugs."

Finding out the program was about to take a significant blow added the role
of fund-raiser to Bonham's responsibilities. On Tuesday, he opened the
boxes containing his last shipment of workbooks and pencils from the
patrol. Bonham has enough of them to last for the next semester, but after
that he must restock.

"Basically, the DARE program is now run from community support and
donations," he said.

The $2,000 donation from Drury Hotels will cover the next school year's
study supplies, but it won't take care of other expenses related to the
program, including officer training, activities, T-shirts and graduation
gift items for the children. Bonham is still seeking more assistance from
individuals and businesses.

Jackson patrolman Jeff Woodard is also seeking assistance for his city's
DARE program, taught to more than 340 sixth-graders.

"We need money for advanced training for school resource officers, and of
course, for materials for DARE," Woodard said.

Program's Beginnings

Cape Girardeau began teaching DARE in 1991, but the program originated in
1987 in Los Angeles. It focuses on issues of self-esteem, communication
skills, decision making and positive alternatives to drug abuse.

Recent criticism concerning the effectiveness of the DARE program may have
given the patrol some reason to make the cuts, Moses said, or at least to
reconsider the program's design.

"I think that was part of the influence," he said. "There are three groups
who have criticized it: the legalizers, who want drugs to be available to
everyone, the greedy providers, who want to compete with DARE and sell
their own anti-drug programs, and some honest and intelligent people who
have found areas needing improvement."

Moses said while there may have been some areas of DARE that weren't as
strong as they needed to be, including tobacco issues and parent
information, improvements were made and the program is being streamlined by
the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation from 17 to 10 weeks. Some St. Louis
schools are part of a pilot program with the new DARE curriculum.

Despite the patrol's budget cuts, Cape Girardeau police have no plans to
discontinue teaching it, said Capt. Carl Kinnison.

"Everyone here believes it is an effective program and that it is the best
way for our officers to interact with the kids," Kinnison said. "We would
have included it in the next budget and pursued it. Thankfully, the
donation from Drury Hotels allows us to continue with the program and to
purchase other items to make it more effective."