Belen Police Department is implementing new DARE program in local schools

BELEN—A drug abuse education program that once had a single mission is making a comeback in the Hub City.

Starting this winter, third-graders at Dennis Chavez Elementary and sixth-graders at Rio Grande Elementary are receiving support, education and direction through the new DARE program.

Joe Griego, the Belen Police Department’s school resource officer, and officer Miranda Gonzales are the two official DARE officers, along with Pauline Vallejos, the security supervisor for the school district. She is one of only four civilians nationwide who is a certified instructor.

Her husband, BPD Deputy Chief Mario Vallejos, told the Belen City Council last week the department got involved with the program again last year, saying the “new” Drug Abuse Resistance Education program is much more than its initial formula of “Just say no” to drugs.

“We got involved in the program and with Belen Consolidated Schools about a year and a half ago,” Deputy Chief Vallejos said. “We went to a couple of different conferences and found out the program still exists.”

The Belen Police Department did have a DARE program during the 1980s and ʼ90s, but stopped after its long-time DARE officer Roy Gonzales retired.

“We had an opportunity to send officers to a DARE program in Utah a few years ago, but it was expensive,” he explained. “We pushed hard to go to a couple of conferences, and went to one in Otero County, where their sheriff’s office has one.”

The deputy chief said when the conference was held in Ruidoso, they were able to send Griego, Gonzales and Vallejos. He said with a waiver, she was able to attend.

“This was a no-joke training,” he said. “I saw the criteria and it’s legitimate. This was a pass-fail, and they had to work really hard. They crammed two college credit hours in 80 hours of classroom time, and another 40 hours of homework time in a two-week period.”

“This follows our mission in community policing and working with our youth,” he said.

Griego, who has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience, said this was the hardest class he’s ever completed, explaining there was no free time in Ruidoso. If they weren’t in class, they were studying or preparing projects for the next day.

The DARE program began in 1983 in California, and the mission was to help deter children from using drugs, Griego said. The program has evolved to include addressing factors that might lead the youth to start taking drugs or drink alcohol.

There are lessons about peer pressure, how to deal with communication, vaping, social media, stress, bullying, safe and responsible choices, resistance strategies and more.

“Right now, we’re in Rio Grande and Dennis Chavez elementary schools,” Griego said. “The program goes from third grade all the way up to the 12th grade that takes 10 weeks. There is also a community presentation that takes six weeks.”

The DARE program includes lessons, a Powerpoint presentation, videos and more. Griego said each lesson is an hour long, and the students, who started the program last week, have been “very engaged and interested.”

“These kids are really intelligent,” the SRO said. “They get involved in the class and wanted to get involved. They really enjoyed that first class.”

Gonzales agreed, saying having been to paramedic school and college, and this was the toughest class she has ever taken. While there were times that it became so intense that she wanted to leave, she’s proud that she stuck with it.

Pauline Vallejos said she is happy to help with the program, saying she has been interacting with the youth of Belen for years, and wants to make a positive influence in their lives.

“These are life skills that we’re teaching them, and talking about what we went through,” she said. “This material was so intense, because we want to give them strategies to become better adults and citizens.”

One lesson she pointed to was that of social emotional tolls today’s youth encounter. Vallejos explained a lot of people don’t realize the pressure children are under these days. She says being able to help teens and younger children realize they can be confident in the way they present themselves without being insulted is a great lesson.

“(The lessons) are very kid situational,” she said. “We talk to them about vaping, about smoking and even about suicide, which is on the minds of a lot of students. This is tough ... and his is how we help our youth combat the darknesses that they don’t know how to handle.”

Vallejos, who is instructing sixth-graders at Rio Grande Elementary, said it’s great to see the children “buying into it” and are very excited to be part of the program.

“This is huge for our kids; it’s huge for our community,” she said.

Griego is proud to be able to bring back the DARE program to Belen, saying he hopes the Belen Police Department will be a model for other departments.

The officers and Vallejos said while they’re proud to be able to bring this program into the schools and help the youth of the community, it does come with a price tag for books, t-shirts, backpacks, prizes, graduations and more.

Deputy Chief Vallejos said it costs $500 each time the department offers the 10-week course to the schools. While Belen Schools is paying their part, they are trying to raise money to continue the program in Belen.

All the city councilors thanked the police department for bringing the DARE program back to the city, and praised their commitment to the youth.

Mayor Robert Noblin said he wanted to be the first to donate $1,500 from his business for the program’s first graduation in April. Later on in the meeting, Jessica Rasband, owner of Reality 1, offered to make the second donation to the program.