FRENCH NAMED MAINE'S TOP D.A.R.E. OFFICER

KITTERY, Maine -- The kids and staff at Frisbee Elementary School like
Russell French.

To them, he's the real deal.

Officer French is the Kittery schools' Drug Abuse Resistance Education
(D.A.R.E.) officer, and in that environment he is liked and respected.

"He's one of the nicest people I know, an all-around nice guy," said Kelli
Killen, principal at Frisbee Elementary School. Rosemary Anthony, a
fifth-grade teacher at Frisbee agreed: "It would have to be someone totally
out of touch with reality to say something bad about him. He really is that
good."

Apparently, word has gotten out about French because last week he was named
D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year at the Maine D.A.R.E. Officers Association's
annual banquet in Portland. The award recognizes a D.A.R.E. officer for
outstanding dedication and achievements in implementing the D.A.R.E.
program in local schools.

Before the award was announced, French sat in the audience in a Portland
hotel, listening to a letter written by a fifth-grade student. As he sat
there, he suddenly realized the child was one of his students.

"He is a man that saves lives, that fights for what is right for people,"
the girl wrote. "A guy that stands strong, bold, loving and great. ... A
man that stands for freedom for America. Someone that brings evil down ..."

French was taken aback.

"Holy cow," he thought as he sat there. "I'm ready to bag Osama bin Laden:
'Stands for good. Fights evil.'"

With a shaved head and mustache, French may look intimidating to those who
don't know him, but kids find him approachable.

"To me, Officer French understands a lot of things I say. I'm glad I know
him," wrote another fifth-grader in support of French's nomination. "He
helps, educates, and gives advice to me. One thing I like about Officer
French is he is a great friend to talk to. He actually LISTENS to me. You
would think that with his job he wouldn't remember me, but he does."

Besides teaching the 17 core D.A.R.E. classes at Frisbee, French is also
the department's community policing officer, so he's got his thumb in a lot
of pies. He puts on bicycle rodeos that promote riding safety; volunteers
as a leader at Camp P.O.S.T.C.A.R.D. (Police Officers Striving to Create
and Reinforce Dreams); installs child safety seats; works with Kittery
Chemical Awareness & Prevention, Inc. (K-CAP); works with National Night
Out, a crime prevention program; and talks with neighborhood groups about
crime prevention.

In his spare time, French spends time with his family and coaches the York
High School hockey team.

"It's an honor for me to have someone of his capability, and his enthusiasm
for the job," said French's boss, Police Chief Ed Strong.

'Every 15 Minutes' Project

French was instrumental in the planning and the success of the "Every 15
Minute" project that took place at Traip Academy in October, according to
Priscilla Guy, chairperson of K-CAP, which received the grant that funded
the program.

"He volunteered to do so much," Guy said of French. "There was no way we
could have done that without someone as dedicated as Russ French."

The program is a drinking and driving awareness program, "very realistic,
very emotionally charged," French said. What French, fellow police
officers, Guy and others did with the program has attracted attention from
as far away as Tennessee and from media outlets such as MSNBC.

On Oct. 24, French and his group staged a mock car accident in front of
Traip Academy. Police arrested the driver for drunk driving. One passenger
died in the simulation, and two others were taken to York Hospital. One of
them also died.

Film crews recorded the scenes at the hospital as the injured arrived and
at the police station as the driver was taken there. The crews followed him
to York County Jail, the District Attorney's office and Biddeford District
Court, where the driver faced a judge.

Back at the school, an adult dressed as the Grim Reaper read a student's
obituary and then took a student out of a classroom every 15 minutes,
signifying the fact that every 15 minutes someone dies from an
alcohol-related crash. The kids who left classrooms and those in the
accident did not go to school the next day, leaving their seats empty.

On that day, a funeral was held, with caskets and clergy, as the students
who were being memorialized read from letters they had written as they
stood behind a screen.

"I think we struck some chords that day," French said, "and I think people
will think twice about drinking and driving." French did have second
thoughts about putting on the program after the events of Sept. 11. He
thought students would become too emotional. Then a double-fatal accident
occurred in Eliot, where the driver was allegedly drunk.

"Sept. 11 didn't stop them from driving," French said. So, he went ahead
with the group's plans.

A Day Job

Before the department received a federal COPS grant, French would work the
third shift, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., and then go to Frisbee School to work
as the D.A.R.E. officer.

"He wouldn't sleep," said Frisbee fifth-grade teacher Jeff Blaisdell.

Being with the kids makes French, 40, feel young again.

"I show up to class tired or with a cold, but I always get energy back from
the kids," he said. "You're always appreciated. It really feels like you're
making a difference, and no two days are the same."

French goes to recess and spends lunch with students, sometimes on his own
time.

"I really feel we're making a difference in the children's lives," he said.

"He really cares about the kids," said Principal Killen. "He cares about
all of them, and they know that."