Police officer dares kids to do great things
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“Imagine being mobbed by 500 kids happy to see a police officer,” Middletown officer.
Scott M. Smith remarks after drop-in visits to sixth-grade lunch hours at Monhagen and Twin Towers middle schools.
The officer was there to visit graduates of his fourth-grade GREAT and his fifth-grade DARE programs. Smith took over an existing DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, a national partnership between local law enforcement agencies and local school systems, and instituted the GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training), also a nationwide effort. In Middletown the Kiwanis Club and PTOs are prime supporters of the DARE effort, while the GREAT program is funded by a grant.
“Of course, the Police Department pays my salary,” the officer adds. Smith is high in his praise of the Middletown School System, which does not limit the two programs to students considered at high risk, but mandates that all students attend the 12 DARE sessions and the six GREAT classes.
Smith notes that the fourth grade program rolls nicely into the fifth grade sessions, catching the youngsters before middle school. “Middle school children are faced with strong peer pressure,” he observes.
Smith, a native of Janesville, Wis., was introduced to police work in that state, where his grandfather was a police chief. When Smith”™s parents relocated to Campbell Hall, he took some police science courses at Orange County Community College and embarked on a career in law enforcement.
During summer months, when the school program is not operable, Smith still finds himself teaching, training new recruits on the force. He also encounters his DARE and GREAT students on calls involving domestic violence or accidents.
Smith is disturbed that part of the problem with youth results from the quality of parenting. “So many parents are parents by title only,” he said.
He encourages students not to become discouraged with setbacks. “If you stumble once, it won”™t stick with you for a lifetime,” he tells his audiences. He does warn them, however, that crack and cocaine can get them hooked the first time. The DARE program goes beyond drugs, dealing also with cigarettes and with underage drinking.
The Middletown officer is concerned about the increasing abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, particularly cough syrup. “These are common items in medicine cabinets,” he warns.
During the GREAT program, the officer deals with peer pressure, anger control, conflict resolution and respect for peers. “Don”™t look at differences as a bad thing,” he urges his young audiences.
Smith was elated when one student, Imani Rogers, then of the Maple Hill
Elementary School, took it upon herself to draft a letter to acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson on the dangers of smoking. She obtained signatures from her classmates before dispatching the letter.
A personal reply was addressed to “Imani, Officer Smith, other members of Mrs. Feffer”™s fifth grade class.” The national health officer wrote, “The health of our bodies is incredibly important to our future, so we all need to try hard to make smart decisions, to eat healthfully, to exercise at least 60 minutes ever day, and ”“ just like Officer Smith has taught you ”“ to say ”˜No!”™ to unhealthy behaviors like smoking, using drugs, and underage drinking.” The acting surgeon general also addressed the dangers to non-smokers of secondhand smoke.
Smith was saddened when his own father, a Monticello minister, died of cancer after many years of smoking. “He didn”™t live to see me become a DARE officer,” Smith said.
Smith lives in Wallkill with his wife Maureen, a school nurse whom he met attending a Mets game. They have two children, Terriann, 14, and Scott Patrick, 11.
Challenging Careers focuses on the exciting and unusual business lives of Hudson Valley residents. Comments or suggestions may be e-mailed to Catherine Portman-Laux at cplaux@optonline.net.