Decorah hosts the Iowa D.A.R.E. Conference

Posted: Thu, Jul 19, 2018 9:23 AM

Police officers from around the state gathered in Decorah this week for a 3-day Iowa D.A.R.E. Conference.

Drug Abuse Resistance Education -- more commonly known as D.A.R.E. -- is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.

The annual conference included several guest speakers, training on prescription and over the counter drug abuse, and updates on the opiod epidemic. Decorah Police Officer Sarah Hendrickson serves as the Iowa D.A.R.E. Association President, and Deputy Sheriff Byron Hook is the D.A.R.E. Officer for the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office. Decorah Police Chief Bill Nixon says about 50 D.A.R.E. instructors from across the state attended this year's conference in Decorah.

The D.A.R.E. program was founded in Los Angeles in 1983 and is now being implemented in 75% of school districts in the U.S. and in more than 52 countries around the world.