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Police Department
D.A.R.E. Program
Drug Abuse Resistance Education is a comprehensive prevention education program designed to equip elementary school children with skills to recognize and resist social pressures to experiment with tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.
E-mail D.A.R.E. Officer Talerico
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This program was developed in 1983 as a cooperative effort by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District, using uniformed law enforcement officers to teach a formal curriculum to students in a classroom setting. D.A.R.E. gives special attention to fifth or sixth grade students to prepare them for entry into middle school and high school, where they are most likely to encounter pressures to use drugs.
In 1990, the Clarendon Hills Police Department, in cooperation with Notre Dame, Prospect, and Walker Schools, first incorporated the D.A.R.E. program within the Village of Clarendon Hills. Every year since, the D.A.R.E. program has been presented to fifth or sixth grade students one-day-a-week for 17 weeks by a uniformed officer who has been trained to teach this program. D.A.R.E. lessons focus on the following points:
Providing the skills for recognizing and resisting social pressures to experiment with tobacco, alcohol and drugs
Helping enhance self esteem
Teaching positive alternatives to substance abuse and other destructive behaviors
Developing skills in risk-assessment, decision making and conflict resolution
Building interpersonal and communication skills. An important factor of the D.A.R.E. program is the impact made by the uniformed law enforcement officer working in the classrooms. The D.A.R.E. Officer provides a positive role model for the children in a non-threatening environment. The current D.A.R.E. Officer for the Village of Clarendon Hills is Rick Talerico. |
| D.A.R.E. Lock-In |
The D.A.R.E. LOCK IN is an all night fun-filled, drug-free event for 5th grade D.A.R.E. students currently enrolled from Burr Ridge, Clarendon Hills, and Hinsdale. This new program which was started in 1997 by Clarendon Hills, Burr Ridge, and Hinsdale affords kids the opportunity to have fun without drugs and promotes "saying no to drugs and yes to positive alternatives." The event is held in February at Hinsdale Central High School. The D.A.R.E. LOCK IN includes such activities as: basketball, volleyball, floor hockey, soccer, dancing, jell-o eating contests, relay races, and much more!
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| VEGA Training |
The VEGA program (Violence Education Gang Awareness) is designed to educate 6th graders at the Clarendon Hills Middle School on how to avoid violence and offset negative peer pressure, especially as it relates to gangs and general violence that can come into our childrens' lives. The effects of drugs are taught as well as people and communication skills
All Clarendon Hills Middle School 6th graders will receive this program. It is presented in five daily lessons for one week. VEGA is taught in both the Clarendon Hills Middle School and the Hinsdale Middle School.
While not considered a "D.A.R.E." program, VEGA fits into the stream of D.A.R.E. programs which are taught to the children starting in kindergarten.
The VEGA program has been prepared by Illinois educators and law enforcement officials. Officer Talerico attended the VEGA training in Springfield where it is taught at the Illinois State Police Academy.
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Clarendon Hills Police Department
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448 Park Avenue
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-Emergency: (630) 286-5460
Fax: (630) 286-5499
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