D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives. The D.A.R.E program was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and is offered in 75 percent of our nation’s school districts and more than 43 countries around the world. Our school’s D.A.R.E. program is facilitated by the Metro Nashville Police Department.

One of the attributes of the D.A.R.E Program is community policing. D.A.R.E. has been recognized internationally for its community policing model. Some benefits of the D.A.R.E. Program to local communites are:

• D.A.R.E. "humanizes" the police: that is, young people can begin to relate to officers as people
• D.A.R.E. permits students to see officers in a helping role, not just an enforcement role
• D.A.R.E. opens lines of communication between law enforcement and youth
• D.A.R.E. Officers can serve as conduits to provide information beyond drug-related topics
• D.A.R.E. opens dialogue between the school, police, and parents to deal with other issues

Click here to visit the D.A.R.E. website.