VILLAS – Feb. 26, 2014, Lower Township Police Officer Darrin Hickok received the State of New Jersey D.A.R.E. Officer of the year award. The award was presented at the D.A.R.E. New Jersey Annual Training Conference Program at the Caesar’s Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City New Jersey.
Drug abuse resistance education (D.A.R.E) is a school based life skills program that became the model curriculum that is taught throughout the nation. The success and growth of the program has been attributed to many elements; however, the experts agree that the most positive influence of the program is the officers who are involved in the program. Officer Hickok was recognized as an officer who has demonstrated continuous commitment and dedication to the children of Lower Township.
The primary goal of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) is to teach effective peer resistance and refusal skills so that adolescents can say “no” to drugs and their friends who may want them to use drugs. The secondary goals of the program are to build students’ social skills and enhance their self-esteem, as these are believed to be linked to adolescent drug use.
Officer Hickok is a twenty year veteran of the Lower Township Police Department. During his eleven year tenure as a D.A.R.E. officer and instructor, he has dedicated himself to ensuring that the children of Lower Township are equipped with the skills necessary to resist the pressures to use drugs or become involved in gangs.
In Addition to instructing over thirty Three hundred students in a classroom, Officer Hickok has also dedicated his time to a D.A.R.E. Leadership Camp each summer for the past eleven years, influencing and impacting countless lives. This prestigious award was presented by New Jersey State D.A.R.E. Officers Association president, Joe Sitty. Also present in the audience were officer Hickok’s wife and three children, retired police Chief Brian Marker, retired Police Officer and Lower township’s first ever D.A.R.E. officer James Dietrich, Sandman Consolidated School Principal Barbara Dalrymple, retired Lieutenant from the New Jersey State Police John Herman, Lower Township Police Chief William Mastriana and Captain Thomas Beeby.
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