Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)

Purpose
The DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program is a cooperative effort between the Colchester Police Department and the Colchester School District to provide relevant drug education to our youth in order to prevent/reduce drug abuse within our community. The program's emphasis is to help students recognize and resist the many pressures that influence them to experiment with gateway drugs, tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana as well as other dangerous substances. The program's strategies focus on building self-esteem, interpersonal and communications skills, decision making, and positive alternatives to drug use behavior.

Organization


Educational lessons are conducted by specially trained Police Officers, and are broken into grade levels. Colchester Police currently have 5 certified DARE instructors:
  • Corporal Jeffrey Fontaine
  • Corporal Jamie Bressler
  • Corporal Peter Hull
  • Officer Christian Mellen
  • Officer Derrick Kendrew
Officer Christian Mellen is the primary educator and Officer Derrick Kendrew is the primary school/community resource officer.