Departments & Services

The D.A.R.E Program

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) is an educational program taught in the school classroom to prevent or reduce drug abuse among children and teenagers. The Bernards Township Police Department, specifically the officers working in Community Policing, Detective, and Traffic departments, teach DARE to elementary age students in Bernards Township. One of the goals of the DARE elementary curriculum is to reach students prior to their involvement with drugs. DARE helps them recognize and resist the many subtle pressures that influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. DARE lessons stress the many negative consequences of drug use, explain peer pressure, promote resistance techniques, and stress the importance of making good decisions.