Cpl. Scott Dodd has been working at the Paragould Police Department since October 2016. Cpl. Dodd is a currently working on a Bachelors in General Education from Arkansas State University.
Cpl. Jack Hailey and Cpl. Chris Gray work in the city's four school districts to bring the D.A.R.E program and Smart Choices Better Chances to approximately 1200 5th grade/6th grade students every year. Officer Hailey and Officer Gray also work with community organizations to provide education to the citizens of Paragould through various community programs each year.
This year millions of school children around the world will benefit from D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), the highly acclaimed program that gives kids the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, and violence. D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has proven so successful that it is now being implemented in 75 percent of our nation's school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world. D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.
The D.A.R.E. curriculum is taught by officers whose training and experience allows them to answer the sophisticated questions often posed by young students about drugs and crime. Prior to entering the D.A.R.E. program, officers undergo 80 hours of special training in areas such as child development, classroom management, teaching techniques, and communication skills.
