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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0396.000 1996-1998 .s-~+< JM<Y M ~ : % Wayne G. Carvalho r - ~ Police Chief Stephen K. Yamashiro hlayur , _ James S. Correa t~ ~ ~'i'ei~Mi'~~` lt1 1 lJ Dzpufy Police Chief `j' UUL GV.J l~uitrlfg of ~ttfirttii cou, . ~ i . ,ti POLICE DEPARTMENT 349 Kapiolani Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720-3998 July 1 3, 1 9 9 7 (808)935-3311 • Fax (808)561-2702 TO JAMES ARAKAKI, CHAIR, AND ~~ME~MB~ERS OF THE HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL FROM •Wa~.YNE G. CARVALHO, POLICE CHIEF SUBJECT: DRUG ABUSE RESISTANCE EDUCATION (D.A.R.E.) PROGRAM During recent Council hearings regarding the acceptance of two federal grants (Communication 314 Resolution 94 and Communication 369 Resolution 116) to assist the Hawaii County Police Department with the eradication of marijuana, a number of questions concerning the D.A.R.E. program came up. We thought the enclosed articles: one from the Director of Public Safety of Mercer Island, Washington; and the other, from HMSA's monthly journal Island Scene would be of interest to the Council. WGC:sk Encs. cc: Mayor Stephen K. Yamashiro ~t>Y~. 3~~ »)v ~o. us G Itef. Tot. Ref. Data JUL 1 : 1997 • • • D.A.R.E.- Cut it or Keep it? By Jan P. Deveny Director of Public Safety Mercer Island, Washington D.A.R.E., an early intervention program which for the past 12 years has acquainted Washington school children with facts and consequences surrounding drugs, has been dropped by the Seattle Police Department; a move which evokes concern among other law enforcement agencies. When Seattle cuts D.A.R.E., people in other cities start asking questions. There are 133 Washington police chiefs and sheriffs who continue to provide D.A.R.E. to the children of their communities. Some of them encouraged me to tell the other side of the story. D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a program where police officers or deputy sheriffs teach a curriculum of 16 one hour lessons, usually at the fifth or sixth grade level. D.A.R.E. curriculums of different lengths are available for K through 12. The lessons provide factual information about drugs and teach refusal skills through role playing and other techniques. Chief Norm Stamper of the Seattle Police Department appeared on NBC Dateline on February 21, 1997 and said D.A.R.E. does not work. This comment was apparently based on one study which showed no difference in drug use between D.A.R.E. students and non D.A.R.E. students. Chief Stamper also talked about the need for more officers on the street. Battle of the Studies D.A.R.E. has been studied extensively. What do the studies say? They disagree. Some say DARE makes a significant difference, others say there is no significant difference. D.A.R.E. proponents say everyone loves the program. D.A.R.E. opponents say you should not spend tax money on a program which feels good but does not produce measurable results. If the studies contradict each other, how do you know what is right? How do you prove a crime was prevented? How do you prove D.A.R.E. classes kept youth from using drugs? How do you catch a moonbeam? f The answers to tough questions are not always in the data. There are other ways to look at the D.A.R.E. program and evaluate its effectiveness. Are We Asking the Right Questions? What does it mean, "Does O.A. R. E. work?" Apparently, to some people it means that once a young person is exposed to D.A.R. E. they will never use drugs. If they later use drugs, it "proves" D.A.R.E. a failure. Some young people may use drugs and others won't, regardless of D.A.R.E. or other prevention programs. But the decisions most young people will make about drugs will depend on many variables. Prevention programs such as D.A.R.E. try to influence those decisions. The D.A.R.E. motto is "To keep kids off drugs." Is that a promise, or a goal? There is a big difference. If you think it is a promise, then you expect that every child exposed to D.A.R. E. is safe from drugs forever. That is not what we should expect. The motto "To keep kids off drugs," is a goal, not a guarantee. The Common Sense Test Another way to think about the D.A.R.E. studies is to question whether they make sense. Here is an example. We require young people to take driver training before we will give them a drivers license. Do we expect they will never get a ticket? That they will never be in an accident? Of course we don't, and we don't eliminate driver training because some kids get tickets or get into wrecks. We still believe the training is good for them. So why cut D.A.R. E. because some studies disagree or because there is pressure for more officers on the street? Another example worth questioning is the notion that what occurs in the classroom has no impact. Some studies conclude that teachers have no ability to teach or to change the behavior of their students. This offends common sense. Most of us (and most teachers) believe teaching works. The huge public education system we support says we believe education is important and it does make a difference in people's lives. At the same time, we recognize that not every student learns everything perfectly or remembers it forever. We also recognize that people can behave in harmful ways even when they know better. We never seem to outgrow the ability to do something foolish. Do We Expect Too Much? Most law enforcement agencies teach D.A.R.E. only in one grade and only for 16 lessons. In term of the whole K through 12 curriculum, D.A.R.E. is a one shot deal; a small blip on the radar screen of learning. If you expect one shot of D.A.R.E. to make your child drug proof for life, you expect too much. If someone promised you one shot of D.A.R. E. would make your child drug proof for life, you were misled. We need a drug prevention and education curriculum which is taught in every year of school, K through 12. Most school districts offer much more than D.A.R. E. to their students. Drug prevention and education is offered in several grades and in a variety of curriculums such as, "Here's Looking at You 2000". D.A.R.E. is only one of many curriculum options available to school districts. The key difference about D.A.R.E. is that it is taught by a law enforcement officer. Law Enforcement Commitment The police officer in the classroom brings the experience from the street to the student. The officer has seen firsthand the harm caused by drugs; harm to the people who use them and harm to their family and friends who care about them. This experience is valuable to the students and to their teachers. However, police officers are an expensive and scarce resource. There are more demands for police officer time than there is time available. People want officers to patrol enough to be a visible presence and deterrent to criminals, respond to their calls promptly, keep order in their neighborhood, solve local traffic problems, and arrest all criminals. The police are also called on to solve many social problems because the police will respond nights and weekends when other agencies are closed. These social problems include the mentally ill, the homeless, and the alcohol and drug addicted. There are unending demands on police officer time and never enough officers to do everything people would like. When a police chief or sheriff wants to have an officer teach D.A.R.E., there are two ways to do it. The first is to get approval from the city or county council for an additional officer to do this work. The second is to take an officer from somewhere else and assign them to teach D.A.R.E. Either way, it is a big commitment for a law enforcement agency to provide D.A.R.E., even in one grade. Community Policing Most people have heard about community policing. There are several ways to describe it, but they all reflect an interest in building a long term partnership with the community. D.A.R.E. is a good example of community policing because it seeks to stop drug involvement before it starts. This proactive policing (preventing a problem) is seen by many in law enforcement as better than traditional reactive policing (dealing with the problem after it happens). Many of us feel the hours spent in a classroom are a better use of police officer time than arresting drug users or drug dealers. D.A.R.E. also allows young people to get to know one police officer in something other than a "blue light" setting. This is good for he kids and good for the officers. Some chiefs and sheriffs believe D.A.R.E. is worth doing just for its community policing value. Priorities Seattle has decided to cut D.A.R. E. Perhaps this is a statement about budget pressures; perhaps it is a statement about priorities. There are 133 law enforcement agencies in Washington continuing to teach D.A.R.E. Perhaps they believe that budgets too often represent short term thinking. When it comes to tough problems like drug abuse, they know they need to be in there for the long haul. The well being of our young people is a high priority. They have just as much right to police officer time as the business which has been robbed or the person who has been assaulted. In law enforcement we can choose to not do some things, but we have to do all the important things. Most of Washington's police chiefs and sheriffs think D.A.R.E. is one of those important things we have to do. Summary Expecting perfection is naive. What happens in the classroom does make a difference in people's lives. Teachers can teach and young people can learn. If we want to affect the behavior of our young people, we need to make a long term commitment to drug prevention and education. D.A.R.E. is one part of a long term commitment to learning. Prevention is cheaper and more effective than enforcement. Kids are a priority and deserving of police officer time. D.A.R.E. is a keeper. Jan Deveny is the past president of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Mercer Island was the first Washington City to provide D.A.R. E. r -4- 1 ~ ~ ~ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' That was the question Hawaii students who have completed the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program were asked last year for an essay contest. Sponsored by HMSA, along with KGMB and Finance Factors, the competi- tion was open to all Hawaii intermediate and high schools. Island Scene is proud to publish the winning essay for each of the three categories. ~ Spnng 1997 Island Sce^ 1 ~ ` ~ • 1 1 1 ~ ~ . 1 1 ' D.A.R.E. has helped me in many staff to get drunk and every time they ways, but the main way D.A.R.E. has would get drunk, they would always helped me is by giving me the skills to fight. Many times I would be the one stay away from drugs and violence. who would have to call 911 to get I'm so glad that police officers and help and I would see a police officer other people cared enough about us arrest some ot" my uncles. I was very to come up with the D.A.R.E. pro- confused and didn't know what to grams because without the D.A.R.E. chink. As time passed by, and with education I have received so far, I the understanding of what I had don't know what would have hap- (earned from D.A.R.E. class, [finally pened to me. I'll tell you why. realized why my uncles and cousins When I was a young girl, at the were getting arrested. age of 4, my dad passed away and Thankfully, my mom, realising my mom was left alone co raise me. that [understood the situation, My mom was young and couldn't couldn't handle me living in that ~ afford to live on her own, so she type of environment. So, in the sixth moved in with her mom. From the grade, my mom was able to huy our age of 5, I was brought up in an own home. alcoholic home where there was a Unfortunately, today, my alcoholic little drug use. And, of course, if you uncles and cousins still live ac my . , ~ put those two together, it equals grandma's house. As years passed, violence. I thought chat was a normal things there got even worse, bur way of growing up. because of coping skills [teamed in Then, when I was in the fifth grade, D.A.R.E., [ am able to handle the we had a police officer corne to tallc situation. Now, white everyone drinks, to us about Drug Abuse Resistance I stay in my grandma's house and Education. Over the course of several babysit my little cousins. But, I only go weeks, he taught me a lot about drugs, to my grandma's house if I have to. violence, se(f~esteem and gangs.'I1ten, I Now today I am drug free, have finally realized that what was going on never had an alcoholic drink, and t'm in my grandma's house, where [was not in a gang. I am looking forward living, was wrong and that I had to try co receiving more D.A.R.E. education to do something about it. If it wasn't this year in eighth grade. for D.A.R.E., I may have done the I know a lot about what s going wrong things and fallen into bad habits on in Life, thanks to the D.A.R.E. in my early life and I would have program and its officers who come teamed the wrong way. in and teach, and also to my mom. I can remember times when I I'm very grateful fot D.A.R.E. and would see all my uncles and cousins my wonderful mom who brought drinking, and then all of them would me up. Photography by Kar! iakauye 42 isiantl Scene Spnng 1997 1 ~ ~ . ~ To dare. In the dictionary, it is my mind began crashing down. My defined as having the necessary walls of denial I could watch friends courage or boldness for something. abusing drugs, yet I believed that my This is very true of my experiences walls would be strong enough and I and surely, the experiences of many high enough that I'd never have to others. [t takes courage to say no and decide. Well, I was wrong. The quite a certain degree of boldness moment of truth had arrived. to resist drugs in the face of peer My friend asked me if I wanted to pressure. It is this very courage that is try some marijuana. I was speechless, fostered by the D.A.R.E. program, and she was irritated already, by my which taught me skills and tactics as indecision. She told me that friend- ~se'D well as bolstered my self-esteem-mak- ship meant sharing things, including d%' + - ia ing it possible for me to say no to drugs. Say "No!" my mind screamed. drugs, no to violence, and finally, to But how? Images of a D.A.R.E. a4si the most difficult people to say no to: officer Flashed through my mind. I my friends. remembered his advice--speak with [n fifth grade, [had led a shel- a steady voice, stand straight, say it tered life, not seeing drugs nor much like you mean it, and stand up for violence in my school [t was when yourself. [ entered intermediate school chat Suddenly I knew what to do. I problems with substance abuse straightened up, realizing that I had began to arise. I saw signs of it in been standing hunched over, the classmates and I knew three of my posture of defeat and insecurity. friends were smoking pot. They had- When I spoke, my voice did not trem- n't pressured me, and as long as it ble or shake. I had made my decision stayed that way, [intended to ignore to say no and voiced it. My friend the problem. I hoped [would never looked shocked. Apparently she had have to face the day when they'd ask thought I would buckle under the me "the question" to give drugs a pressure, but 1 hadn't. I walked away try. [knew chat sooner or later, the and never looked back. time would come when 1 would have Now [know [didn't need friends I to make a decision~ne of the like that, and never will. Friends biggest decisions of my life. should support you, not pressure During my freshman year, [was you. From that day on, I made a with a friend who was smoking pot. promise to myself to always resist Though she hadn't smoked in front drugs, and to only be friends with of me before, I had a feeling this people who did so too. Together, wasn't going ro be the last time. we would D.A.R.E. to make the Right then, the walls I had built in right decisions. Spnng 1997 Island Scene 43 t I 1 ~ ~ • 1 . ,.r At the top of school problems relations and many others. They used today are those of drugs and violence. a 17-week program which consisted As a student of Kapa'a High and of many tun activities. We worked as Intermediate School, I see this first a class and shared what we already - hand. Police officers are constantly knew about drugs and violence. We . being called to the school and stu- also shared experiences we had and dents are carried away like convicts. stories we had about people we knew Good students with good work who were dramatically affected by habits and good grades get caught up drugs and violence. ,t in the growing trend of drugs and My D.A.R.E. Educator was Sgt. violence. They are edged on by the Yata, a member of Kaua'i's police myths and lies their peers give them. department and a very respected ` Uneducated on the facts of drugs and man in our community. Since my violence, they are sucked in by their D.A.R.E. training, Sgt. Yata has been need to belong and their need to fit there to offer his assistance. Year in. Their priorities change and instead after year he has helped students of doing what they think is right, they with their problems and educated do what they feel they need to do to others on how to avoid them. This be accepted by the wrong crowd. kind of assistance lets students know What do these students need to that people care and want to make a do? They need to D.A.R.E. them- difference in our community and our selves to change, D.A.R.E. themselves school system. to make a difference in our communi- This philosophy drove me to try ry and our schools. You are not to make a difference. For four years, [ alone, D.A.R.E. is there to help you, have been volunteering my time to along with teachers, counselors assist in the building of the Kapa'a and respected volunteers Erom the High Student Center, a building community. D.A.R.E. is a program which will house a health center, a that has helped me and many of my peer counseling office and many classmates to make the right deci- ocher groups and organizations inter- sions to do the right things to avoid ested in the health and well-being of the problems which accompany our students and their families. drugs and violence. D.A.R.E. has instilled great moral. My personal experience with and values in me. I hope by volun- D.A.R.E. was excellent. I, along with Leering my time and effort into our my classmates, was educated about schools and our community, [can topics such as dmg use, peer pressure, make a difference like D.A.R. E. has self-esteem, stress management, family made a difference for me. Islantl Scene Spnng 199] By Bill Harby and Laurie Arakaki Photography by Bill Harby PF n a hot night in Chinatown, a dozen neighbors walk the streets with two police officers. One morning at her Wailuku home, a woman notices two men she doesn't recognize looking around her neighbor's house. First she calls the neighbor, then 911, then other nearby neighbors. On a weekday afrernoon in a Hilo meeting room, police officers explain to downtown merchants how to protect them- selves against burglaries and bad checks. Scenes like [hese are occurring more and more around Hawaii. It's called "community policing." fixing the window The concept rs simple: citizens and police working together to prevent crime by not giving it the conditions it needs to thrive. This requires attitude and action. "[f a window in your neighborhood gets broken and nobody fixes it, that sends a message that you don't care," says Honolulu Police Officer Avery Choy one evening to a group of concerned tenants at Kalakaua Housing in Honolulu. "Then it grows. You get graffiti. You get abandoned cars. You get g;ui~~. "But if cou take care of the little things, if you fix that win- I6 isiantl Scene Spnng 1997 a, t : ~ ; I ~ p I - n4 j.: l'~;, _ ~•l dow, then it doesn't steartuoll i bigg The tenants listening to Choy were already beginning to fix the Getting with the Program window. With the help of the Honolulu Police Department, they were learning how to organize a "citizen patrol" to walk the grounds Neighborhood security watches around their building. and citizen patrols are just two of Crime in Hawaii shows no regard for shrinking county and state the programs that follow the com- budgets. Police departments are understaffed, jails are overcrowded- munity policing philosophy. Others ; no wonder crime is rising. The cops can't be everywhere. are created in different communi- ~ Bu[ they're getting help. ties, depending on what residents "You guys are the eyes and ears of your area," Hilo Police Officer or merchants ask for. Grace Castillo-Black tells members of the Hilo Downtown Improvement Association. H01118 M BuslOess SecurUp Survey The merchants had gone to law enforcement officials a year before Upon request, a police officer to ask for action. Their town was reeling from big-city problems- will come to your residence or open drug dealing on the streets, prostitution, assault. place of business, survey the "Customers were avoiding coming downtown," says Betty property and security systems, Enriques of The Garden Exchange. "It had gotten terrible. Especially then suggest different ways to the drug dealers." improve security. The merchants, residents and police started working together more. [t was a matter of "setting up a partnership," explains Stafford carKlnuea on page 19 Oyama, a manager at the Hilo KTA grocery store. "We had to learn Hilo Police Officer loe Feliciano shows volunteers where to look for trouble on the first night of their civilian patrol. 'i~ Spring 1997 Island Scene t~ i ~v~~r ~ ~ 5~ C i what laws the police have to work wtt in, roblems they have with manpower. That's where we as private citizens came in as the missing piece of the puzzle." Now they were working with Castillo-Black and other police officers. "Information is probably the police department's biggest asset," Officer Thomas Lonokapu tells the merchants. "And the community is probably our biggest resource for that information." walkin~ the beat T e downtown Hilo merchants have taken two big steps toward better communication. First, they've formed several Neighborhood Security Watch networks. If the volunteers see anything suspicious, they call the police, then their neighbors who have signed up for the watch. The police also help by regu- larly warning the Security Watch groups about recent crimes in their area, so they can be on the lookout. Members get a decal for their window that warns would-be burglars that someone nearby may be watching. At the Hilo meeting, Castillo-Black stresses to the merchants the impor- tance of reporting all criminal activity and even suspected criminal accivity. "What may be manini to you, might be a big help to us," she tells them. "It's like, at your residence, if you see someone suspicious outside and you don't report it, then the person may go away, but they may go to your neighbor's house. So then maybe your neighbor will get hit because you didn't report it. We would rather be called on suspicious activity and end up with nothing than get called later on and find there was a homicide." I8 islantl Scene Spnng 1997 r~ • r~ ~ :mergency Decal System I~ The police provide a decal for a window or door at the place ~ of business. Each one has a different code number and instructions to call the police if there's an after-hours problem like an unlocked door. The ,~I II police, who have a list of the I code numbers and business owners or managers, can then I~, alert them. ~ o~eraaon i.D. The Honolulu Police Department will lend you an electric engraver so you can ' mark your property with your I name and address. This makes recovered stolen property easi- I. er to return to the owner. The program also helps deter theft because you will receive a I decal to display that your prop- erty has been marked. a i Seniors Against Crime Police officers give presenta- The cttrien patrols-the First ones on a lions to senior citizens on Neighbor Island. The Hilo members walk their area together each week. i topics such as crimes specifi- (In Wahiawa, members patrol on bicycles.) The volunteers are told never tally targeted against seniors, to confront arrvone they see breaking the law. Instead, they call 911 on how to effectively report a the cellular phone they're required to carry. Their main job is to be highly crime, and how to make your visible-eves and ears that deter crime. I home, your car and yourself When Honolulu's Chinatown citizen patrol formed in February 1995, i less vulnerable to crime. I Hotel Street was thick as flies with drug dealers, prostitutes and assotted CommunayTratfleAwareness I stammers, recalls volunteer Ben Adolph while patroling with the group Partnership I one evening. Now the street is usually a lot quieter-especially when the A group of neighbors get citizen patrol walks through. "The prostitutes and dope dealers, if we 'i together with the police and I stand near them and they lose one transaction, that's victory," says I Adolph. "Now, when they see us, they keep moving." I stand along a road where This is how they extend the eyes and ears of law enforcement, drivers habitually speed. They "These people have made a big difference," says HPD Officer Darrell wave signs with messages like "SLOW DOWN!" A police I Lee Lum, while walking with the Chinatown citizen patrol this evening. ~I "We're a presence," says Shirley Atkin, a Chinatown resident and officer with a radar gun pulls founding member of the patrol. "We walk through a crowd of prostitutes it over speeders in front of the or drug dealers and they scatter. We're ruining business," she smiles. II sign wavers and gives drivers But nobody is naive enough to think the work is done. There will a warning. always be a need Eor concerned citizens helping the police. That's what Call the main number (not 911) at community policing is about-safer streets, personal security, quality of Your local police station to team life. Says Lee Lum: "When the community and [police department) work what programs are available in together, this is what you get." ® ' your area. Feliciano points out a probable drug deal Me civilian patrol has just interrupted. ' Spnng 1997 Islantl Scene IB