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DeWitt County Sheriff Talks Early Days of DARE in Clinton

Clinton 5th grade students will take the DARE program and DeWitt County Sheriff Mike Walker began the program in Clinton back in the early 90s.

 

The Sheriff says the program initially focused on drugs and how to teach kids how to say no to drugs when confronted with them. 

 

 

According to Walker, he was able to shadow some experienced DARE officers and learn the ropes. When former Chief Mike Reidy came to Clinton, Walker was able to turn the program over to him and from there, it became Chief Reidy's program.

 

 

Current DARE officer and Police Chief Ben Lowers have touted the benefits of putting a uniformed officer in front of the kids and having those positive interactions. Sheriff Walker says even when this program started back in the 90s in Clinton, that was a big benefit of the program.

 

 

Walker is appreciative the DARE program has evolved to now address topics like bullying and social media. He says youth in today's world has a vastly different set of challenges than the kids he first mentored through the program. 

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