Morris police officer finishes DARE training

Jessica Smith has successfully completed DARE Officer Training and will become the Morris Police Department's newest instructor. Smith, who has been with the department since February 2006, will be teaching DARE during the spring semester at Morris schools. Drug Abuse Re-sistance Education training consists of 80 hours in areas such as child development, classroom management, teaching techniques, lesson plan preparation, community policing, legal issues in the schools, youth culture and communication skills. She attended training Dec. 8 to Dec. 19 at Illinois Central College in East Peoria. After completing written exams and practical teaching assignments, Smith was awarded certification as a DARE officer and instructor. In addition to being qualified to teach the DARE curriculum in elementary schools, she received five semester hours of credit from Illinois Central College. The DARE curriculum is designed to be taught by uniformed officers, whose training and experience give them the background needed to answer the sophisticated questions often posed by young students about drugs and crimes. DARE provides children with the skills needed to recognize and resist the subtle and overt pressures that cause them to experiment with drugs or become involved in gangs or violent activities. “Officer Smith is a very energetic and motivated police officer,” Chief Brent Dite said. “The Morris Police Department is very dedicated to providing the DARE curriculum to Morris schools and Jessica is another fine officer in a long line of officers at the Morris Police Department who have successfully completed DARE training.” Other officers who have taught DARE or are current instructors include Chief Dite, Sgt. Scott Henderson, Sgt. John Severson, Patrol-men Tracey Steffes, Steve Huettemann, Curtis Kneller and Doris Noll, and Det. Eric Werden.