Las Cruces police graduated 25 officers from a two-week Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) training course that was completed on Friday, Feb. 14, 2020.
The 25 officers are from law enforcement agencies in New Mexico, California, Colorado and Alaska. Instructors were from the Las Cruces Police Department and other agencies in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Maryland. A graduation ceremony was coducted at the East Mesa Public Safety Complex, 550 N. Sonoma Ranch Boulevard.
The two-week, 80-hour, course began February 3. Now that the officers have successfully completed the course, they are certified to teach D.A.R.E. curriculum in their communities.
The Las Cruces Police Department has supported the D.A.R.E. program since the 1980s and is responsible for teaching D.A.R.E. to fifth-grade students at 17 Las Cruces elementary schools. The Las Cruces Police Department currently has 13 officers certified to teach D.A.R.E. curriculum.
D.A.R.E. has changed significantly in the past few years and is now one of the programs the Surgeon General has identified as building social, emotional, cognitive and substance refusal skills that provide children accurate information on rates and amounts of peer substance use. The D.A.R.E. mission remains constant: Teaching students good decision-making skills to help them lead safe and healthy lives.
The D.A.R.E. training course is a partnership between the Las Cruces Police Department and D.A.R.E. America. The course is offered at no cost to officers, though their agencies are responsible for covering costs for travel and lodging.