D.A.R.E./School Resource Officer

In keeping with its belief in Community Oriented Policing, The Beavercreek Police Department offers 2 school specific programs that are geared toward the 6,700+ students and 700+ staff members that populate the city’s schools.

School Resource Officer

The Beavercreek Police Department School Resource Officer Program is based on a triad system:
  1. The Officer, who is in full uniform, is first and foremost a police officer and will be involved in any criminal investigations that occur on campus.
  2. The Officer will “team” teach in the classroom on law enforcement related issues.
  3. The Officer will counsel students on the basis of personal experience as a law enforcement officer.
Additional attributes:
  • Provides a positive influence on school campuses
  • Works in partnership with teachers, administrators, students and parents to reduce and prevent crime and violence in the school setting
  • Promotes a greater understanding of laws and youth citizenship
  • Brings knowledge and experience to the school community that helps youth make positive choices that affect their future
  • Solves problems with students, staff and parents
  • Plans for personal safety and security on school campus
  • Mentors students through classroom activities and daily interaction

D.A.R.E.

The D.A.R.E. program has 3 main goals:
  • D.A.R.E. seeks to provide students with a knowledge base on the effects of drug abuse that go beyond the physical ramifications and extend to emotional, social, and economic aspects of life.
  • D.A.R.E. aims to build decision-making and problem-solving skills and strategies to help students make informed decisions and resist drug use, peer pressure, and violence.
  • The most important reason behind the D.A.R.E. program is providing students with alternatives to drug use.

D.A.R.E. Lessons

D.A.R.E. is a universal program designed to reach the general population, rather than “at risk” groups, and it is most often implemented in the 5th and 6th grades. Research has shown this to be a time when children are very receptive to anti-drug messages, particularly as they approach the age associated with drug experimentation. The curriculum focuses on knowledge and skill development in 7 areas:
  • Cognitive Information
  • Recognizing Pressures
  • Refusal Skills
  • Consequential Thinking and Risk Taking
  • Interpersonal and Communication Skills
  • Decision Making
  • Positive Alternatives
Some of the D.A.R.E. lessons focus on raising awareness in these skill areas, while others emphasize their practical application.


D.A.R.E. Officers

D.A.R.E. is instinctive in its approach in that specially trained, uniformed police officers conduct the lessons in the classroom. By employing law enforcement officers to teach the curriculum, D.A.R.E. brings the firsthand accounts of the officers’ experiences from the street to the classroom. It is this unique aspect of the program that not only intrigues students but also helps to foster a positive relationship between the students and police officers.

While officers actually conduct the D.A.R.E. lessons, a licensed teacher is required to be present in the classroom. That teacher is expected to reinforce the D.A.R.E. material by integrating its objectives into the general curriculum for the particular grade level. It is believed that this will strengthen the students’ understanding of the D.A.R.E. objectives and increase their confidence in applying those skills in a variety of situations.

Evolution of D.A.R.E.

The lessons provide factual information about drugs, with an emphasis on gateway drugs (marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco), and teach refusal skills through role-playing and other techniques. Since its inception, D.A.R.E. has undergone revisions as a result of research findings and is now more interactive, promoting active student participation. Additionally, D.A.R.E. has broadened its focus to include conflict resolution and gang prevention, and has expanded to encompass programs for parent education and after-school recreation and learning.