Bradley County Brings Back D.A.R.E Program

Bradley County Sheriff, Eric Watson, says, "The citizens of the county asked for the D.A.R.E. Program to come back."

Sheriff Watson tells WDEF he doesn’t know why the DARE program ended to begin with, but the increase in crime made him want to bring it back.

Sheriff Watson adds, "The last few years we’ve seen an increase in crime when it comes to drugs and alcohol in Bradley County when it comes to teenagers."

Sheriff Watson says the program shouldn’t be criticized because it’s unlike a lot of others.

It’s strictly ran by the Tennessee Department of Safety.

Sheriff Watson adds, "The whole education part is new about the dare programs. And it’s not just talking about drugs, it’s talking about alcohol and living a good life. It’s talking about bullying now and a lot of different topics in the dare program for kids."

Around $10,000 worth of donations made it possible to start this program.

Soon, about a dozen school resource officers will be trained in elementary schools.

According to Sheriff Watson, "We have to meet requirements to even teach and even keep this dare program in Bradley County."

Juvenile Court Judge, Daniel Swafford, supports the new spin on an old program.

Judge Swafford adds, "My top priority is to rehabilitate and this program really fits in well with what we’re doing in terms of juvenile drug court or what’s called now a rehabilitation court."

About a quarter to a third of the children who stand before Judge Swafford have a substance abuse problem.

He thinks this program will single-handedly reduce that number.

Sheriff Watson says the D.A.R.E cars are drug seized vehicles.