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."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160