June 1995

1. Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department (Christopher Commission). Commission

Report. Los Angeles: LAPD, 1991, p. 102.

Community Policing and

D.A.R.E.®: A Practitioner’s

Perspective

David L. Carter, Michigan State University

merican citizens are concerned about crime. A review of public opinion

polls and news stories shows that Americans want to see new initiatives

for dealing with drug abuse, gang activities, violence in the schools and

streets, nonviolent crime, and the fear that is eroding the quality of life in many

communities. A number of programs have emerged to deal with these problems.

Neighborhood Watch, Operation Identification, use of school educational resource

officers (ERO’s), street sweeps, and a wide range of specialized programs all target local

problems throughout the United States. This bulletin focuses on two of these evolving initiatives: community policing and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.®).

The way citizens think about policing is being transformed. Integration of the creative thinking of law enforcement administrators and academics with a wide body

of police research findings has yielded the concept of community policing. Unlike

programs intended to address specific problems faced by law enforcement, community policing calls for an all-encompassing change in the way police perform their

duties.

D.A.R.E.® is a drug and violence prevention education program that began in Los Angeles in 1983 and has since spread across the country, through urban and rural communities. D.A.R.E.® program goals and activities are consistent with an integrated community

policing approach and reflect many community policing values. The 1991 report of the

Christopher Commission, an independent group studying the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), offers this description of the D.A.R.E.® program:

In 1983 [the LAPD, in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District] developed a highly visible, community-oriented program, D.A.R.E.® . . . in which officers

leave patrol and go to schools to teach children about the dangers of drug use. Many

view the D.A.R.E.® Program as one of [LAPD’s] major achievements...1

Both community policing and D.A.R.E.® have had their critics; challenging old methods and philosophy can be risky. However, such creative initiatives are essential to

meet the growing citizen demand for change, resource accountability, and a quality

of life that is as free of crime as possible.

Community Policing

The emergence of community policing presents a challenge for law enforcement

because it requires a fundamental shift in the longstanding philosophy underlying

the maintenance of law and order. Many envision community policing as one specific program; others generalize it as “social work” that is “soft on crime.” In reality,

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Bulletin

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OFF ICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS

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Bureau of Justice Assistance

Community

Policing Series
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Community Policing Series

the efficiency and effectiveness of policing without sacrificing citizen safety.

■ Assigning patrol officers to geographic locations based on population

ratios does not meet the variability of

demands for police service.

■ Meaningful deployment of patrol officers requires careful analysis of environmental factors, thus calling for

service that can fluctuate according to

season, time of day, and geographic

location.

■ Because most citizen calls can be

handled effectively by one officer, singleofficer patrol cars are significantly more

efficient than two-officer units.

■ One-officer patrol cars do not pose

undue threats to officer safety.

■ Teams of police officers working in a

cooperative effort toward commonly defined goals can provide more comprehensive police service than nonteam

efforts.

■ Unique patrol deployment schemes,

or specialized patrols, can be useful in

handling special circumstances and

problems.

■ Patrol officer job enlargement and job

enrichment helps increase job satisfaction, thus fostering an environment in

which officers become more productive.

■ To be useful in personnel assessment

and direction, police performance measures must be goal directed and reliable.

■ Citizen demands for police assistance

and problem solving related to noncriminal matters must be addressed.3

Community policing builds on lessons

learned from the above research findings and related literature. By reallocating patrol officers’ time, community

policing can make better use of personnel. When police establish a dialog with

citizens, the public develops a more accurate measure by which to gauge an

officer’s competence and thus determine their satisfaction with police services. Participating in a dialog with

police also allows citizens to have a

voice in defining and prioritizing their

law enforcement needs. This targeted

response, in turn, helps establish better police-community relations and

contributes to greater satisfaction for

all citizens. At the same time, officers

given the mandate to diagnose community problems and develop creative

solutions serve in many new roles—as

community organizers, facilitators, educators, and referral resources—that enrich and expand the officers’ work.

Community policing is not the answer

to all problems faced by law enforcement, nor will it work in every community. However, the concept provides a

logical, comprehensive approach to police service delivery that relies on a

tested body of research. Integrated with

D.A.R.E.®, a more specialized program

that has been shown to produce desirable results, community policing can

presumably better serve all citizens.

2. Trojanowicz, R., and B. Bucqueroux. Community

Policing. Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing

Company. 1990, p. 5.

the concept is one of full-service law

enforcement that addresses specific citizen concerns and provides high-quality

police efforts. Robert Trojanowicz, one

of the earliest proponents of community

policing, characterized it as:

. . . a new philosophy of policing,

based on the concept that police officers and private citizens working

together in creative ways can help

solve contemporary community problems related to crime, fear of crime,

social and physical disorder, and

neighborhood decay. The philosophy

is predicated on the belief that achieving these goals requires that police

departments develop a new relationship with the law-abiding

people in the community, allowing

them a greater voice in setting local

priorities, and involving them in efforts to improve the overall quality

of life in their neighborhoods. It

shifts the focus of police work from

handling random calls to solving

problems.2

Community policing did not suddenly

materialize as a new idea; rather, it

evolved from research conducted by a

wide range of scholars and police research organizations. Beginning primarily in the early 1970’s, a great deal of

research was conducted on police patrol. Some of the important patrol-related data from the last 25 years of

research include the following findings:

■ Random, marked patrol does not

prevent crime.

■ Patrol officers have a notable

amount of “uncommitted” time.

■ Quick response to citizen calls does

not increase the probability of apprehending criminals.

■ Fulfillment of citizen expectations of

a response time—not the actual speed

of response—shapes citizen satisfaction

with the police.

■ Call management plans, such as Differential Police Response, can increase

abels for Community Policing Initiatives

Municipality Program

Aurora, CO Police Area Representative

Aurora, IL Resident Officer

Baltimore County, MD Citizen-Oriented Police Experiment

Detriot, MI Ministation

Flint,MI Neighborhood Foot Patrol

Ft. Worth, TX Code Blue

Houston, TX Neighborhood-Oriented Policing

Jackson, TN Community-Oriented Policing

Kansas City, MO Target-Oriented Policing

Madison, WI Quality Policing

Newport News, VA Problem-Oriented Policing

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Community Policing Series

Although debate continues on the conceptual differences between community

policing and problem-oriented policing,

many argue that the concepts are moving closer together. Community policing seeks to resolve community

disorder and neighborhood decay with

a broad brush of solutions; problemoriented policing seeks a more precise

surgical approach to resolving specific

problems. In practice, police departments appear to employ community

policing in the way that best meets

their particular local concerns, giving

the effort a special name to signify a

new initiative. These names can vary

widely; however, it is the philosophical

shift behind the police service delivery

system—not the difference in the

name—that is important.

A good example of a problem-solving/

community-oriented systems approach

to drug use and crime prevention is the

three-phase systems approach developed by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S.

Department of Justice, in New Haven,

Connecticut; Jacksonville, Florida;

Knoxville, Tennessee; and Tucson,

Arizona.

■ Phase 1 involved an integrated effort

to ensure that prevention was afforded

a stature equivalent to other policing

activities. Rather than being handled as

a separate activity, prevention was included in patrol and investigation activities throughout entire police

departments.4

■ Phase 2 was designed to create partnerships between the police and different community groups and institutions.

It was recognized that comprehensive

prevention activities could not be performed effectively without enlisting the

help of such key constituency groups

as schools, churches, neighborhood

organizations, and departments of municipal government.

■ Phase 3 involved the coordinated delivery of drug use and crime prevention

services. Essentially, to achieve their

drug and crime prevention goals, the

partnership groups needed to

develop a comprehensive initiative

characterized by cooperation and

coordination of the different

responsibilities.

Drug Abuse Resistance

Education (D.A.R.E.®)

Drug Abuse Resistance Education is a

comprehensive educational program

designed to prevent substance abuse

and violence by educating children

about the threats and consequences

associated with such activities.

The D.A.R.E.® curriculum focuses on

building self-esteem, taking responsibility

for one’s behavior, resisting peer pressure, and making responsible decisions.

As important additional benefits, the

program offers students the opportunity

to gain a trustworthy adult friend, develop a positive attitude toward law

enforcement personnel, and acquire

greater respect for the law.5

The D.A.R.E.® curriculum was developed by educators to be presented to

school children by specially trained,

uniformed police officers. Since its

implementation, the core curriculum

has undergone continuous review and

improvement, incorporating contemporary teaching methods to educate children in the prevention of drug abuse,

violence involvement, and gang affiliation. Building on the original D.A.R.E.®

concept of 1983, the curriculum has

expanded to cover the entire span of

a child’s school years. D.A.R.E.® programs include:

■ Kindergarten through fourth-grade

visitation lessons.

■ Fifth-grade and sixth-grade core

curriculum.

■ Middle/junior high curriculum.

■ Senior high curriculum.

■ D.A.R.E.+ P.L.U.S. (Play and Learn

Under Supervision) activities for sixthgraders, seventh-graders, and eighthgraders.

■ Lessons for parents.

Socialization

An important dynamic in any educational initiative is the socialization process, or the way in which attitudes,

values, and beliefs are shaped by everything a person observes and experiences throughout a lifetime. Political

beliefs, understanding of right and

wrong, life priorities, and virtually every other aspect of human experience

are shaped by socialization. D.A.R.E.®

attempts to influence the socialization

process in young people’s lives.

Informal socialization results from a

myriad of incidental exposures occurring throughout a person’s life. For example, a child is riding in a car that is

stopped for speeding. The officer’s demeanor—whether pleasant and professional or abrupt and overbearing—will

undoubtedly influence that child’s attitude toward police. At the same time,

the youth will be influenced by the

driver’s reaction to the officer. This

brief experience will serve as a factor

in the development of the child’s attitude toward law enforcement personnel. Although the single encounter may

have a limited effect on the child’s value

system, it nonetheless is a “planted

seed.” Subsequent encounters with a police officer will either reinforce this experience or provide conflicting information

that the youth must weigh accordingly.

Other factors also will color that judgment, including comments made by family, friends, and teachers; observations

from television and movies; and innumerable other societal inputs.

Formal socialization occurs when

specific information is directed toward

an individual with the intent of shaping his or her values and beliefs.

School, church, the business sector,

and the court system, in addition to

teaching substantive skills, all focus

5. Bureau of Justice Assistance. An Introduction to

the National DARE Parent Program. Washington,

DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice

Programs. 1993, p. 1.

3. Radelet, L., and D.L. Carter. The Police and the

Community. 5th ed. New York: Macmillan

Publishing Company. 1994, p. 74.

4. Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Systems

Approach to Crime and Drug Prevention: A Path to

Community Policing. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.

1993, p. 2.
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Community Policing Series

on influencing behavior and beliefs.

Ironically, informal socialization appears to be somewhat more influential

than formal socialization; nevertheless,

there is a clear interaction between

the two types. Specifically, formal socialization establishes institutional parameters and policies, while informal

socialization guides the actual practice

of policies and “pushes”—sometimes

crossing—the institutional parameters.

Simply stated, the predominant type of

input, or socialization, that is regularly

experienced will exert the greatest influence on a child’s attitudes and beliefs. Constant positive exposure to a

police officer over a sustained period of

time can shape a positive attitude toward the community, its values, and the

police; consequently, D.A.R.E.® can

help develop good citizenship in the

students who participate. How much

any young person will be influenced

depends on his or her previous socialization experiences; the quality of the

D.A.R.E.® instruction experience; and

how much reinforcement is received

from parents, friends, teachers, or other

police officers. D.A.R.E.® opens the

door to young people to lay the foundation of responsible citizenship.

Through the use of community policing

initiatives, law enforcement can build

on this foundation.

Behavioral Continuum

Some young people will never use

drugs or seriously entertain the idea of

participating in an unlawful act. Others

may be headed toward involvement in

crime. The causes of these behavioral

extremes have been studied by criminologists for years. What is known is

that young people are the product of a

complex interaction of physical and

psychosocial factors that can be influenced by positive and negative forms of

socialization toward either extreme.

As Figure 1 illustrates, a substantial portion of young people seem to fall in the

middle area of the continuum between

the extremes, with vulnerability to influences that can edge them closer to one

end or the other. Perhaps positive interaction with the police as a result of

shifting resources, the police department was able to place 13 officers in

the city’s two school districts. As Chief

Dalagar stated, “The police department

has taken away the ‘big stick approach’

[to dealing with youth-related crime]

and replaced it with education.”6

 In the

fourth and fifth grades, the officers

teach the D.A.R.E.® curriculum; in the

middle schools, the officers teach the

Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) curriculum; and each of

the two high schools has the services

of an assigned ERO. According to the

chief, this approach’s reliance on the

more open (and trusting) communications has resulted in fewer “police problems,” an increased number of arrests,

and significantly improved police–community relations.

D.A.R.E.® establishes effective communications links within the community

with potentially far-reaching results.

Special Agent Merle Manzi of the

Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who also is the State’s D.A.R.E.®

Program Coordinator, has observed:

Speaking to D.A.R.E.® officers

makes you aware of the program’s

impact. Every officer can quickly

give you several stories [that] describe how students more positively

relate to the police or how their lives

have changed after having the opportunity to know a police officer

whom they feel comfortable talking

with [about] all kinds of problems.

D.A.R.E.® has opened that line of

communication. Multiply that by the

both community policing and D.A.R.E.®

can more effectively socialize young

people in the middle of the continuum,

encouraging them forward toward

greater responsibility.

A successful D.A.R.E.® program requires the integrated effort of police,

schools, and parents. One of these

groups alone is unlikely to succeed in

directing a child’s behavior toward a

constructive, responsible end; furthermore, law enforcement probably has

the least influence of the three. However, through programs like D.A.R.E.®,

law enforcement officers can reinforce

the positive efforts of the parents and

schools. Such reinforcement is enhanced when the police department is

“driven” by the partnership and problem-based orientation of community

policing. Figure 2 illustrates the integration of efforts among these groups

as applied to both community policing

and D.A.R.E.® initiatives.

Community Policing

and D.A.R.E.®: Working

Together

Combining a community policing mission with an educational initiative like

D.A.R.E.® can prove beneficial. The

following account offers a good example. Mission, Texas, a city of about

30,000 people and just minutes from

the Mexican border, has an extremely

high level of drug trafficking activity

and drug abuse. Recognizing the need

to employ a more contemporary and

effective approach to law enforcement,

Chief Pat Dalagar of the Mission Police

Department refocused his department’s

drug control strategy. By significantly

Figure 1

Continuum of Responsibility

Irresponsible

Behavior

Responsible

Behavior

Sphere of Influence

6. This quote is based on personal interviews

conducted by the author.
5

Community Policing Series

Several new programs that specifically

emerged from activities of D.A.R.E.®

officers are described below:

■ The new community-based Park Hill

School District Community Drug-Free

Task Force resulted from the interest

and concern of parents, the police, and

schools.

■ Drug-free tailgate parties were sponsored at various high school football

games.

■ An adult “prom” was sponsored as a

fundraising event for drug abuse programs and community awareness of

drugs and the drug-related problems

that affect youth.

■ D.A.R.E.® officers and students developed a docudrama on drug resistance

that was presented to students during

high school prom week.

■ Through the leadership of D.A.R.E.®

officers, a chapter of Turning Resources and Energy in New Directions

(TREND) was developed in two middle

schools and one high school.

■ D.A.R.E.® officers helped develop a

Teaching and Reaching Youth (TRY)

program.

These initiatives were facilitated by the

stimulus and networking afforded by

the D.A.R.E.® program, and each

complements the goals of community

policing. It has become increasingly

evident that D.A.R.E.® provides important linkages to the community that

were previously weak or nonexistent.

The anecdotal experiences of D.A.R.E.®

participants highlight several patterns

involved in the use of D.A.R.E.® that

serve to complement a community policing component.

■ D.A.R.E.® “humanizes” the police:

that is, young people can begin to relate

to officers as people, rather than in

terms of uniforms or parts of an institution. A D.A.R.E.® officer in Massachusetts asserted, “I have had countless

kids tell me that they never thought

they would speak to a cop. It shows

you that they viewed us [the police] as

robots or some untouchable force. If I

hadn’t had these kids in class, most

would probably still view us that

way.”10

■ D.A.R.E.® permits students to see police officers in a helping role, not just in

an enforcement role. A Georgia

D.A.R.E.® officer was told by a fifthgrade student, “I didn’t know you did

good things. I thought you just put

people in jail.” Showing all sides of

policing responsibilities is an important

educational tool.

■ D.A.R.E.® opens lines of communication between law enforcement and

youth. In Michigan, an officer said,

“When I worked patrol, I rarely said

over a half a dozen words to kids, and

they certainly had little to say to me.

Now [after working in D.A.R.E.®] I talk

to kids all the time—even ones who

graduated from the program several

years ago—and it’s amazing some of

the things they tell me.”

■ D.A.R.E.® serves as a source of feedback to the police department to better

communicate the fears and concerns of

youth, thus helping the police develop

problem-solving efforts that extend beyond drugs. A D.A.R.E.® officer from a

rural Missouri town said, “I was surprised to learn how scared many of

these kids were about different types

of crime. They would hear about gangs

and homicides occurring in Kansas City

and were convinced that was a problem [here] also. I can’t ever remember

a homicide [in our town] and I would

be surprised if we ever had a gang

member pass through here. So, I found

myself explaining things to kids about

all kinds of crime in addition to drug

resistance.”

number of D.A.R.E.® officers across

the country and I’m convinced that

they have had an important lasting

impact on the community.7

In looking at the specific relationship

between D.A.R.E.® and community policing, the annual report of the Michigan D.A.R.E.® Coordinator stated, “[The

D.A.R.E.® program] is more than drug

education; [it] is community policing

and commitment to community.”8

Along this same line of thought, Moore

and Trojanowicz noted:

In community policing, community

institutions such as families, schools,

neighborhood associations, and

merchant groups are seen as key

partners to the police in the creation

of safe, secure communities. The

success of the police depends not

only on the development of their

own skills and capabilities, but also

on the creation of competent communities. Community policing acknowledges that police alone

cannot succeed in achieving their

basic goals without both the operational assistance and political support of the community. Conversely,

the community cannot succeed in

constructing decent, open, and orderly communities without a professional and responsive police force.9

Sgt. Rick A. McLaughlin, the Kansas

City, Missouri, Police Department

D.A.R.E.® Supervisor, relates that the

D.A.R.E.® program serves as a vehicle

for activities in Kansas City that reach

beyond the in-school curriculum.

7. Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The

Future of Florida D.A.R.E. Tallahassee: Office of

the Statewide D.A.R.E. Coordinator. Undated.

8. Michigan Statewide D.A.R.E. Office. Statewide

Report—1994. East Lansing: Michigan Department

of State Police. 1994, p. 4.

9. Moore, M.H., and R. Trojanowicz. “Corporate

Strategies for Policing.” Perspectives in Policing.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice,

Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of

Justice. 1988, p. 3.

Police

Schools

Parents

D.A.R.E.

Community

Policing

Philosophy

Figure 2

Integration of Effort

10. All of the quotes related to the anecdotal

experiences in this section are based on personal

interviews conducted by the author.
6

Community Policing Series

■ D.A.R.E.® officers can serve as conduits to provide information to young

people beyond drug-related matters,

particularly in question-and-answer

sessions. A Florida officer stated, “I get

questions about traffic laws, search and

seizure, the accuracy of TV police

shows, crimes in the news, local gossip

about crimes and criminals, the Mafia—just about anything you can think

of. There’s certainly lots of misconceptions in these kids’ minds. Hopefully,

I’m straightening some of them out.”

■ D.A.R.E.® can serve as a stimulus for

youth to become more involved in other

responsible activities such as the Police

Explorers, Police Athletic League, or

other youth-oriented initiatives. A

Texas police manager observed,

“D.A.R.E.® gets many young people

enthused about the police, which leads

to their interest in about anything

we’re involved with. The more young

people we can get to participate in

positive, character-building activities, the

better citizens they will be. Over the

years, D.A.R.E.® will probably plant the

seed for many of these young people to

enter a law enforcement career.”

■ D.A.R.E.® reduces peer pressure and

balances values for all types of responsible behavior. An officer from Florida

observed, “Most kids want to do what

is right, but the peer pressure to conform is unbelievably strong. What they

learn in D.A.R.E.® discussion sessions is

that there are lots of other kids who

share their values to do ‘what’s right.’

That lesson goes far beyond drug resistance and gets to the heart of being a

good citizen.”

■ D.A.R.E.® opens lines of communication between the school district and police to deal with a wide range of issues,

such as violence in the schools, drug

abuse, and any other problem about

which there is mutual concern. One

Texas school district did not want the

police to come on campus unless they

were specifically called, and then only

under limited circumstances. Furthermore, the police department had difficulty obtaining cooperation from the

school except under extraordinary circumstances. The Chief of Police said

that after the D.A.R.E.® program

started, their relationship with the

school system completely turned

around. Not only did the D.A.R.E.® officer serve as an important “common

ground,” but the school officials developed a greater understanding of police

procedures and needs—just as the police department learned more about

the school district’s concerns.

■ D.A.R.E.® shows the police in a different light for many adults within the

community: parents, teachers, school

staff, administrators, and school board

members. According to a Michigan parent, “At first I wasn’t too sure that having a cop teaching kids in school was a

good idea. I thought they’d try to turn

the kids into informants or something.

But after talking with my daughter

about [the D.A.R.E.® instruction] and

listening to her enthusiasm and talking

with [the officer] at her graduation, it

changed my mind. It has good lessons

about personal responsibility which

should be continued in the schools and

at home.”

■ West D.A.R.E.® Regional Training

Center

City of Los Angeles Police

Department

3353 San Fernando Road

Los Angeles, CA 90065

213–485–4856

West D.A.R.E.® serves California,

Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,

North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

■ Southwest D.A.R.E.® Regional

Training Center

Arizona Department of Public

 Safety

Suite 290

3110 North 19th Avenue

Phoenix, AZ 85015

602–223–2544

Southwest D.A.R.E.® serves Alaska,

Arizona, American Samoa, Colorado,

Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico,

Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas.

■ Midwest D.A.R.E.® Regional

 Training Center

Illinois State Police Academy

D.A.R.E. Bureau

3700 East Lakeshore Drive

Springfield, IL 62707

217–786–7026

Midwest D.A.R.E.® serves Arkansas,

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,

Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio,

Virgin Islands, and Wisconsin.

■ East D.A.R.E.® Regional Training

 Center

Virginia State Police

P.O. Box 27472

Richmond, VA 23261

804–674–2238

East D.A.R.E.® serves Connecticut,

Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine,

Maryland, Massachusetts, New

Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,

Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode

Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West

Virginia.

■ Southeast D.A.R.E.® Regional

 Training Center

North Carolina State Bureau of

 Investigation

P.O. Box 29500

Raleigh, NC 27626–0500

919–662–4500

Southeast D.A.R.E.® serves Alabama,

Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,

Mississippi, North Carolina, South

Carolina, and Tennessee.

Law enforcement agencies interested in obtaining D.A.R.E.® training or

seeking answers to questions about local programs may contact the appropriate D.A.R.E.® Regional Training Center listed below. BJA discretionary funds

support the training centers.

D.A.R.E.® Regional

Training Centers
7

Community Policing Series

same might be said for community policing. Kelling and Moore observed that

“[t]he measures of success in the community strategy are broad: quality of

life in neighborhoods, problem solution, reduction of fear, increased order,

citizen satisfaction with police services,

as well as crime control.”12 The effects

of D.A.R.E.® appear to contribute to all

of these outcomes.

Thus, although D.A.R.E.® primarily

focuses on drug use and violence prevention and education, its influence

potentially can be far more widespread. As noted in a report by the office of Michigan Governor John Engler:

D.A.R.E.® is one of the few prevention programs that excite students,

teachers, parents, and communities.

That excitement and awareness

should be expanded to include

other diverse prevention and intervention approaches. In Michigan,

D.A.R.E.® officers are encouraged to

become aware of all school and

community prevention initiatives

and to encourage participation in

broad-based parenting, peer, student to student, student assistance,

and community awareness projects.

D.A.R.E.® can provide a powerful

building block and source of support for all prevention activity.13

In philosophy and practice, D.A.R.E.®

complements the tenets of a communitybased approach to policing. Together,

building on the ideas of partnership,

open communication, reciprocal education, and mutual respect, community

policing and D.A.R.E.® can improve

the quality of life in the Nation’s

communities.

■ Exposure to life in the public schools

can broaden officers’ perspectives on,

and understanding of, community concerns. An officer in South Carolina said

his experience as a D.A.R.E.® officer

gave him a greater appreciation for

problems faced by schoolteachers and

how these problems impede the educational process. He stated, “This [experience] has not only helped me in

my job, but it has made me a better

parent and citizen.”

■ D.A.R.E.® training is an instrument

of socialization that introduces officers

to a philosophy that measures success

by community acceptance and support

rather than by the numbers of crimes

and arrests. A California police captain

observed that officers returning from

D.A.R.E.® training exhibit “a definite

change in character.... The officers

demonstrate greater sensitivity to the

needs of people in the community, and

an eagerness to interact with the community and teach what they have

learned. Such changes in police attitudes provide a firm foundation upon

which police-community partnerships

can be established.”

■ By using D.A.R.E.® officers as a resource, a department can become more

creative in developing problem-solving

initiatives. A California police manager

stated, “We’ve found D.A.R.E.® officers

to be an excellent source to help identify community problems which need

to be solved because they learn so

much in the schools. They’re also a

good resource for viewing new programs from a slightly different light because they seem to understand many

things about our community that many

of us have lost touch with.”

The D.A.R.E.® program fosters the

close and prolonged contact with the

community that is fundamental to community policing. Removing the

D.A.R.E.® officer from the patrol car

allows him or her to interact closely

with school administrators, teachers,

parents, community members, and

young people over an extended period

of time, thus developing a rapport that

promotes communication and problem

11. This quote is based on personal interviews

conducted by the author.

12. Kelling, G., and M.H. Moore. “The Evolving

Strategy of Policing.” Perspectives in Policing.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office

of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.

1988, p. 13.

13. Engler, J. Answering the Critics. Memorandum

to Michigan D.A.R.E. Officers. Lansing: Office of the

Governor. November 16, 1994, p. 11.

solving on issues that extend beyond

the D.A.R.E.® curriculum.

The connection among D.A.R.E.® officers, community policing officers, and

citizens becomes very strong. A police

supervisor in Massachusetts stated, “Every student and parent views ‘their’

D.A.R.E.® officer as being ‘the best

one,’ [in] much the same way people

view ‘their’ community police officer as

being the best officer on the department.” Such public perceptions are

crucial to gaining support and developing partnerships for crime control and

drug prevention. Given the benefits

that can be gained from these linkages,

law enforcement should strive to expand any available avenue of communications and cooperation.

Conclusion

Community policing and D.A.R.E.® are

evolving initiatives that can respond to

changing social problems and demands. However, many of the challenges faced by both programs arise

out of the fundamentals of human nature. Among the greatest barriers to

overcome are:

■ The resistance to change that affects

law enforcement and communities

alike.

■ The desire to see successes in the

short term when change requires a

long-term goal of resocialization.

■ The natural human tendency to settle

for the status quo rather than risk

change.

■ The unwillingness to recognize that

even in failure, knowledge is gained—

knowledge that includes insight on

how to modify an initiative to ultimately achieve success.

■ The lack of sincere commitment to

invest effort, resources, and patience in

a nontraditional venture.

Special Agent Manzi of Florida stated,

“D.A.R.E.® is like building a brick

building, one brick at a time. It’s incremental and you have to look at the

collective successes over time.”11 The
8

Community Policing Series

Suggested Reading

Bureau of Justice Assistance. An

Introduction to D.A.R.E.: Drug Abuse

Resistance Education. Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of

Justice Programs. 1991.

———. An Invitation to Project

D.A.R.E. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. 1988.

———. Neighborhood-Oriented Policing in Rural Communities. Washington,

DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office

of Justice Programs. 1994.

———. Problem-Oriented Drug

Enforcement. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Justice, Office of

Justice Programs. 1993.

———. Understanding Community Policing: A Framework for Action. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice,

Office of Justice Programs. 1994.

Goldstein, H. The New Policing:

Confronting Complexity. Washington,

DC: U.S. Department of Justice,

Office of Justice Programs, National

Institute of Justice. 1993.

Kelling, G.L., and W.J. Bratton. “Implementing Community Policing: The Administrative Problem.” Perspectives on

Policing. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. July

1993.

National Institute of Justice. Community

Policing for Safe Neighborhoods. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice,

Office of Justice Programs. 1993.

———. Community Policing in Seattle:

A Model Partnership Between Citizens

and Police. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice

Programs. 1992.

———. “The D.A.R.E.® Program: A Review of Prevalence, User Satisfaction,

and Effectiveness.” National Institute of

Justice Update. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Justice, Office of Justice

Programs. October 1994.

New York Police Department. Taking

Hold: A Progress Report on the Crime

Control Strategies of the NYPD.

Internal report. 1994.

Trojanowicz, R., and D.L. Carter. The

Philosophy and Role of Community Policing. East Lansing: Michigan State University, National Center for Community

Policing. 1988.

Wycoff, M.A., and T.N. Oettmeier.

Evaluating Patrol Officer Performance

Under Community Policing: The Houston Experience. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Justice, Office of Justice

Programs, National Institute of Justice.

1994.

Wycoff, M.A., and W.K. Skogan. Community Policing in Madison: Quality

From the Inside Out—An Evaluation of

Implementation and Impact. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice,

Office of Justice Programs, National

Institute of Justice. 1993.

Sources for Further

Information

D.A.R.E.® America

P.O. Box 2090

Los Angeles, CA 90051–0090

800–223–3273

Bureau of Justice Assistance

 Clearinghouse

P.O. Box 6000

Rockville, MD 20849–6000

800–688–4252

U.S. Department of Justice

 Response Center

800–421–6770

NCJ 154275

June 1995

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U.S. Department of Justice

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Penalty for Private Use $300

This document was made possible in

part through D.A.R.E.® America and

supported by cooperative agreement

number 94–DD–CX–K008, awarded by

the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S.

Department of Justice. The opinions,

findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this document are

those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or

policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Bureau of Justice Assistance

is a component of the Office of Justice

Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National

Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention,

and the Office for Victims of Crime.