Enid

Police

Department

About Us

Enid Police Department - D.A.R.E.

301 W. Owen K. Garriott Rd.

Enid, Oklahoma   7371

To contact us:

Phone: (580)242-7000

            (580)249-9266

dare@enidk12.org

The Enid Police Department DARE Program has undergone many changes since its inception in 1989. 

 

Enid Police Chief George Stover was an early advocate of the DARE project. Chief Stover first heard of the program from Officer Bill Peters, then learned more about it at an Oklahoma Alliance Against Drugs seminar. As he learned more about the program, he made the decision to implement it in the Enid Police department, sending two officers for training, and began to sell its values to the Enid Board of Education.

When Chief Stover first attempted to gain the cooperation of the Enid School Board for this program, he was met by some resistance. Some members of the School Board had several reasons why they didn't feel the program was necessary in Enid schools. They felt the program would take too much time away from required curriculum and told Chief Stover that some drug programs had been started in many of the schools. Amazingly, there was even concern about armed officers in the school rooms. Chief Stover immediately pointed out that most of the drug programs that were being used were merely pilot programs and were not throughout the school system. Further, having the officers in uniforms, weapons and all, in the classroom gave the students a chance to know the police officers as something more than an authority figure. Last, but not least, he pointed out that the classroom time taken by DARE would be time well spent.

Parochial schools were the first to ask that the program be implemented in their schools. At the time, the school term was only about nine weeks away from being over. These schools asked that an accelerated program be put in place for the remainder of  the year, then fully implemented the following year.

Finally, the Enid School Board made the decision to put the program in the schools, on a trial basis. 1989-90 was the first year the DARE program was used in Enid schools. Officers Mickle Smith and Bill Peters, who received their training from the Tulsa Police Department, taught a 17 week program to 5th grade students in all the elementary schools in Enid. The officers spent four hours a day, four days a week teaching. Both officers worked out of the Special Services Division of the police department.

 

Since then, the DARE program has had numerous Officers trained to teach DARE.  Officers Lisa Jobes, Tommy Rose, Justin Lamle, Brian Skaggs and Roger Gripe have all served as DARE Officers in either a full or part time capacity.

 

Officer Duane Andrews is currently in his third year as a full time DARE Officer for the Police Department.  Officer Virginia Crice completed DARE Officer Training in June of 2008 and is awaiting assignment to the program.

 

The DARE program is being taught in nine Enid elementary schools as well as Pioneer-Pleasant Vale, Emmanuel Christian School and St. Paul’s Lutheran School.  The number of combined total , 5th grade, classes is twenty-seven.  Nearly six hundred students are taught each year during the 10-12 week program.

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