Did anyone hear that Mayor Sheridan has eliminated DARE for our 1 to 4th grade students? Officer Lou was the DARE officer for my 2 kids when they were young and He does a great job. Why is the program being eliminated by the Mayor? DOes the Police Chief have a say on the matter?
The Mayor, regardless of who it happens to be at the moment, or any individual member of the Township Commitee, would not have unilateral hiring / firing authority. Those decision are left up to the department heads.
The committee could in theory withhold funding for a speicific department which could affect the employment levels but any such action would be a matter of public record.
In the past, there has been some disagreement as to where the funds for the SRO should come from; out of the exisitng money budgeted to the police department, or from addtional money dedicated specifically to the SRO postion.
One position is that if the money comes out of the Police Department budget then those funds would not be available for other purposes. The preference would there for be to have the Township Committee allocate seperate funds for the SRO postion.
The other position is that, since the SRO is a public safety issue that involves the police department they should indeed use the money they already have.
As is usally the case it boils down to money (OUR MONEY I might add) and who controls it with the results all to often being counter to the public good.
The simple answer to this question is that in grades 1-4, you can try to explain the dangerous outcomes of drug abuse but the truth is is that these children aren't old enough to fully comprehend the information that they are being told. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that they aren't competent, but more specifically i'm trying to say that you can tell someone something but when that individual experiences the temptations they are being warned of through DARE, it is entirely their own decision to what they decide to do AT THAT TIME. This is the reason why its borderline ridiculous to teach this material to children at such a young age. If you teach them at an age where the threat is more likely or imminent, there will definately be a more dramatic effect on the way the children view drug abuse. When you find out you have a problem with substance abuse, using drugs is never the same. It becomes a job. No more escaping from reality because the one person no one can lie to is themselves. If these kids hear what the signs, symptoms, and effects of drug abuse are when they are at the age it becomes prevalent, I can assure you it won't seem like as much "fun" or as "cool" to them. Just an OPINION. Also, maybe someone should do something about the actually structure of DARE. It could definately be more effective, but that's whole other topic.
The removal of the DARE and SRO officers are directly the result of the layoffs of Officers Pilipie and Pledger. With their termination, there are not enough officers to patrol Hanover, and cover the two school posts. Chief Gallagher had to make a difficult decision, but it was predicated by the Township Committee's authorization of the layoffs. As the Chief Executive, Mayor Sheridan is accountable for that. Instead of resorting to retribution for those who spoke against the firings, he should have looked around for alternate funding. He didn't, so it's on his watch. Joe Giorgio should be held accountable too. Clearly, he knew this was coming, and didn't take any proactive steps, or suggestions to prevent it. Camden just got the Local Finance Board to lift their cap ... why didn't anyone research that avenue? While our Town is spending 350K for a Garbage Truck, people are being fired, and lives are being shaken up. The fact that we have no bonded debt is great, BUT what good are low taxes with low services, and less Police presence than before. I will urge voters to remember how the Mayor duped us, and that he need to be laid off.
