DARE officer to stop school duty

Staff report

BOARDMAN — The township’s DARE police officer returns to the department’s patrol division next week because of decreased manpower and falling budget numbers.

The department, which staffed 63 officers in 2006, has dropped to 51 with three more officers expected to leave this year either through retirement or resignation.

The township received an $18,000 state grant last year to help fund the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, but the officer’s pay, with salary and benefits, is $84,000, Chief Patrick Berarducci said.

“Since I can’t hire people to increase manpower, what I can do is narrow our operations to what is most important,” he said.

Returning the DARE officer to the road along with another officer who formerly worked on the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force will increase to 26 the number of patrolmen among three shifts. The chief said more changes are expected.

Frank Lazzeri, school superintendent, said DARE is part of the school’s health curriculum and without the DARE officer, the responsibility for instructing children in the DARE principles will fall to the health teacher.

He said he thinks that having that instruction coming from a police officer enhances the message and it enables children to see police officers in a positive light.

Last year, the department’s DARE officer taught 21 separate 10-week classes to fifth graders in public and parochial schools within the Boardman school district. The program educates children on the dangers of illegal drugs, gang membership and violent behavior.

Another change expected this week is elimination of police responding to calls of gas drive-offs, when a motorist pumps gasoline but drives away without paying for it.

The department will develop forms to distribute along with a letter from Berarducci for gas station owners. The forms will enable victims to input information about the crime and sign it, indicating they intend to prosecute those responsible.

It’s a way to allow officers more time on the road.

The chief also is considering elimination of police response calls to vehicle crashes that occur on private property and incidents such as thefts where there are no witnesses and the victim requests a police report merely for insurance purposes.

Trustees last week voted to place a five-year, 2.2-mill safety-services levy on the November ballot. If it passes, the township hopes to hire six to 10 police officers and bring back six, and three laid-off firefighters and road department employees, respectively.

“If we get a levy and rehire officers, the first thing that I will restore is the DARE program,” Berarducci said.