Metro Welcomes New D.A.R.E Program Officers

The drug abuse resistance education program also known as D.A.R.E. has made a comeback in Davidson county schools. News 4’s Justina Latimer has the details in this report.

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) – The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, also known as D.A.R.E., has made a comeback in Davidson County Schools.

“It just warms my heart to see all of these D.A.R.E officers that graduated today. I mean they are going to communities ranging from Johnson County to Henderson County,“ said Sgt. Kasey Fitts, state coordinator for D.A.R.E in Tennessee.

On Friday morning, 15 officers graduated from THP’s D.A.R.E training program. Out of the group, three were from Metro Nashville and will soon join the reboot of the D.A.R.E program within MNPS.

“Dr. Battle, she has allowed us to bring the D.A.R.E program back. This is the new version…Once an officer is trained in that program they can go into pre-k, kindergarten, third, fourth, and fifth…middle schools and high schools,” said Officer Mark E. Bennett, MNPD School Liaison.

According to Officer Bennett, the program paused in Metro nearly a decade ago because of funding, but with an ongoing opioid crisis, he says it’s the perfect time to bring it back.

“Whenever you bring a uniform officer and children together in a structured environment for the purpose of learning and teaching each other you can’t go wrong,” said Bennett.

His former D.A.R.E student Sierra Hancock is proof of the program’s success. She shared her story at the ceremony.

“My mother she was struggling with addiction. I didn’t really know what was going. She was absent in a lot of ways and I wasn’t sure where exactly that was coming from. But just on that path where officer Bennett put us where we are staying clear of those kinds of distractions just really helped me stay on a different path,” explained Hancock.