More Bolivian Police Graduate from DARE Program as Instructors

NAS Demand Reduction Program Coordinator Mario Eguía conducts the last class for the new DARE instructors.

On September 25, 33 police officers graduated from the 11th course within the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, which is funded by the U.S. Embassy’s Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS).

The police officers who become DARE instructors then teach this program to children between 10 and 12 years of age (5th and 6th graders) in public schools throughout the country.  The children’s course includes 17 lessons that last 45-60 minutes each.

According to studies, each year 700 Bolivian people, most of them youths, start using some sort of illicit drug every year; 28% of those new drug consumers use cocaine hydrochloride and cocaine paste.  The police officers train Bolivian boys and girls to resist social and peer pressure that may entice them into using drugs.

Luis Baga, NAS Program Officer congratulates one of the graduating officers.

This is the eleventh course offered in Bolivia and the sixth developed entirely by Bolivian trainers.  Seven mentors and one national coordinator provided the 10-day training course, from September 14-25, in the city of Sucre.

The training course included 80 hours of class work and 80 hours of practical training that included pedagogic approaches, didactic techniques, and planning of activities.  The course emphasized prevention contents to provide Bolivian children and youths with tools to help them reject alcohol and drug use, as well as violent behavior.

The graduating police officers show their DARE lions that identify them as new program instructors.

Thirty-three police officials of different ranks attended the course, including two from La Paz, ten from Santa Cruz, five from Oruro, four from Tarija, four from Potosi, and eight from Sucre.

The DARE program was established in 1983 in Los Angeles, California, USA, and was brought to Bolivia in 1999.  So far, it has offered drug use prevention training to 68,050 Bolivian students, including 10,403 in La Paz; 9,740 in El Alto; 815 in the Yungas region; 12,356 in Cochabamba; 2,481 in the Chapare region; 9,389 in Santa Cruz; 5,370 in Potosi; 5,665 in Sucre; 2,430 in Oruro; 2,763 in Tarija; 5,040 in Beni; and 1,598 in Pando.