Utah

After years spent seeing firsthand how drugs, alcohol and violence destroyed people’s lives, their families’ lives and their communities, Green sought to focus on substance abuse prevention because, he says, arresting the same people each week wasn’t making the difference in what he wanted to accomplish as a police officer. When the opportunity arose to return to his home state and serve as a D.A.R.E. officer in Draper, he “jumped at it.”

These programs introduce police officers to students, who come to respect them as their protectors, helpers and confidants. Often these officers become part of the school and family, attending graduations, higher education celebrations and even weddings. The link has recently weakened, however, as officers/uniforms are shamefully targeted by media, politicians and individuals meaning to do them harm.

A Centerville Police Officer was just named Utah’s D.A.R.E. officer of the year and And Utah’s School Resource Officer of the year. No one has ever won both awards at the same time. In this week’s Behind the Badge police profile we meet Officer Jeremy Brown.