Whitehall Police Officer Leads Local D.A.R.E. Program, Reaches Out to Students

When the  hired Officer David Artman in 1995, Artman was asked if there was an area in which he’d like to specialize, as all new officers are given that opportunity.

“I told the chief (Donald R. Dolfi) that I always wanted to work with kids,” Artman said. “It’s good to reach them at a younger age.”

Dolfi remembered that request seven years later and asked Artman if he’d like to be involved in the department’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E. program, then headed by retired Officer Bruce Marchetti. Artman worked with Marchetti in the D.A.R.E. program until Marchetti retired in 2009, and now, Artman has been his department’s head D.A.R.E. officer ever since.

“(Artman) does an outstanding job with it,” Dolfi said, adding that Artman is committed to this endeavor and spends most of his work hours during the school year coordinating and executing D.A.R.E.-related activities.

Whitehall's exposure to D.A.R.E. began in the fall of 1993 with classes at , and . The program initially targeted fifth- and sixth-grade students with two uniformed instructors. As time went on, there was a need to expand.

“Now, I talk to kids starting in third grade all the way through their senior year,” Artman said. “It’s amazing to me to see how the program is grown, and you do see results.

“A national survey was done that showed a decrease in tobacco use. There was a spike in marijuana use, (but) alcohol has leveled off.”

D.A.R.E.’s purposes include giving students the skills needed to resist social and peer-pressure situations involving tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. The program involves teachers, parents and community leaders when looking at risky decision-making both at school and at home.

D.A.R.E. also aims to help students reach an answer when dealing with bullying and violence by other students in their schools.

The program is beneficial to both the students in the program and the Whitehall Police Department.

“They are getting real stories from the road, and it interests them,” Artman said. “It also helps us because we become more approachable as police officers.

“They aren’t afraid to come and talk to us.”

D.A.R.E. classes differ greatly from those of a quiet classroom environment.

“It’s very dynamic,” Artman said. “It’s a very interactive discussion. I talk to the kids about what’s happening on the streets (relating to drugs and alcohol), and they ask a lot of questions.”

A “D.A.R.E. Box” is also placed in classrooms for students who feel uncomfortable asking questions in class, or if time runs out before a certain question is asked.

“It doesn’t feel like a job to me because I enjoy it so much,” Artman said.

In addition to classes, police resources are utilized to show the effects of drugs and alcohol, and Artman said that it has made an impact on the students.

For example, seniors at are presented with a vehicle that was involved in a real drunk-driving accident, and that shows the students significant damage.

Another activity equips the students with “drunk goggles” that give an effect of having twice the legal limit of alcohol, or 0.16-percent blood-alcohol level, in their bodies. They are instructed to make sandwiches while wearing these glasses, and “they see how it impairs them,” Artman said.

Fifth-graders have a D.A.R.E. graduation. Part of this event involves having one of the students read his or her essay about what he or she has learned throughout the program.

“Sometimes, they surprise you,” Artman said. “I’ll have a student that seems standoffish, and he or she turns out to have the best essay.”

 funds the local D.A.R.E. program. The program used to receive funding from the state, but that stopped when the country’s economic recession occurred.

Whitehall councilman Philip Lahr lauded the D.A.R.E. program and its efforts.

“I believe it helps the children to stay away from drugs,” Lahr said. “We will always have (D.A.R.E.).

“We don’t shy away from programs with good results.”

Lahr added that he is happy with the job that Artman is doing.

“He goes into the schools and shows them what is right and wrong,” Lahr said. “It’s important he reaches out to the younger kids so they know the danger before it is too late.”

For more information on D.A.R.E., contact the Whitehall Police Department at 412-884-1100.