Much like Deputy Ralph Underwood and Deputy Bob Mount before them, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office’s current Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) officers continue the tradition of making an impact on county children in their quest to educate them about the dangers of drug abuse. A testament to the program’s acceptance in local school districts, more than 500 local fifth-graders graduated from the program in their respective classrooms last month, and will celebrate with a roller skating party next week.
Clark County Chief Deputy Doyle Wright, who is a former D.A.R.E. officer himself, said the program training is “unlike anything else you’ll ever experience as a police officer,” noting that officers are conditioned to express their “human side” so that they can better-connect with their classroom audience.
The county’s current D.A.R.E. officers, Deputies Joshua Berner and Shaun Lisle, visit dozens of different schools in the county each week to connect with students in a setting that Wright said makes it easier for the children to approach the officers and feel comfortable talking to them.
“The kids get to see the deputies in a capacity they normally don’t see them in.”
“Sometimes they’re hesitant to approach these officers because the kids think they’re a robot,” he said, adding that the D.A.R.E. program not only educates children about the dangers of drugs, but teaches them to be comfortable around law enforcement officials as well.
Clark County is home to the longest-running D.A.R.E. program in the state of Ohio.
Deputy Berner, who has been with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office for 13 years, was certified as a D.A.R.E. officer in 2013. After completing 80-hour D.A.R.E. Training Courses, both Berner and Lisle became certified to teach D.A.R.E. at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels. Deputy Lisle was D.A.R.E.-certified in February of 2014, and started his career at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in 2000. Lisle has been awarded the Meritorious Service Award, and Berner was named the 2013 Crisis Intervention Team Officer of the Year in 2013.
When asked what it takes to make a good D.A.R.E. officer, Berner answered, “you have to be willing to have fun,” adding that engaging students helps them grasp D.A.R.E. concepts.
More than 1,600 students in county school districts have participated in the D.A.R.E. program each year since it was launched in Clark County back in 1988. D.A.R.E. began in Los Angeles in 1983 after the Police Chief there partnered with the L.A. Unified School district to create the program in response to “unparalleled drug abuse” among Los Angeles youth in the 1970s and early 1980s.
More than 550 fifth-graders from Indian Valley, New Carlisle Elementary, Northwestern Elementary, and Rolling Hills graduated from the program in late April, and will celebrate with a roller skating party next Thursday, May 12 at USA Skates on Upper Valley Pike. Berner said this is the first year to hold the celebration at the skating rink, as they usually go from school to school setting up graduations in gymnasiums. He said the City of Springfield holds their D.A.R.E. graduations at the skating rink and has had positive experiences there. Berner said he encourages parents, teachers, and school principals to attend the party as well, and hopes that it gives “the fifth-graders a chance to get to know each other.” Students who wear their D.A.R.E. shirts will receive free skating that evening, which was sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 209.
Berner said that he and Lisle have recently expanded the program to include a full D.A.R.E. curriculum for all fifth, seventh, and ninth-graders in county schools, adding that it is important to establish relationships with the younger grades in order to form a bond and a level of comfort.
He noted that he and Lisle signed up for positions as D.A.R.E. officers several years back when they became available.
“We’re just trying to make that difference in the community,” said Berner. “I enjoyed D.A.R.E. when I was in school—and my boss was my D.A.R.E. instructor,” he said of Sergeant Ralph Underwood.
In addition to visiting many schools for D.A.R.E. lessons each week, Berner and Lisle also instruct the Safety Village course for children ages four through six in the summers. Safety Village educates youngsters on all manner of concerns, including fire safety, personal safety, as well as a lesson on drugs and poisons. This program is free for all Clark County children, and sponsored by the Springfield Pilot Club, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, and participating schools.
Chief Wright said it is crucial for D.A.R.E. officers to open up to the kids and demonstrate that they too are human, with families and hobbies of their own outside of their profession. Wright noted that D.A.R.E. officers must also learn to act like a school teacher during their time in the classroom—saying: “You get a crash-course of all the things you’d learn from a four-year degree in a two-week training course.”
To encourage the children not to involve themselves with drugs, Wright said it is the responsibility of the D.A.R.E. officer to equip the kids “with every skill in the tool belt” necessary to resist drug use, including peer pressure and qualities of leadership so that they aren’t tempted to associate with those who do use illegal substances.
“Hopefully, the D.A.R.E. program gives them those tools needed to not hang out with those kids,” said Wright.
Berner said he and Lisle genuinely enjoy their time spent with local students, as it gives them the opportunity to be proactive in dissuading them from using drugs.
“We love it when we walk down the hallway and the kids are happy to see us,” Berner said.
