Police Department - Society Improvement Program

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The SOCIETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM is a joint effort of the Gloucester Township Police Department and the Gloucester Township School System. The program, initiated in January, 1976, had as its original purposes - the bettering of relations between students and police officers, and lessening of vandalism and related juvenile crimes. Over the years, program goals have been expanded to include drug abuse prevention, bicycle safety, shoplifting prevention, stranger and play safety, and a discussion of community responsibility. Initially, three officers were assigned to the program on a part-time basis. Today, there are seventeen officers who participate in the program on a part-time basis. All additionally are still assigned to their patrol duties.

Currently, the program encompasses grades Pre-K through 8 in all township public schools. Since 1982, the three regional parochial schools and one private school have also participated in the program. Almost 9,000 children have at least one non-adversarial, non-enforcement contact with a police officer each year due to this program.

PROGRAM OUTLINE

The following is a brief grade by grade synopsis of the program:

SIP officers visit each Pre-K and Kindergarten classroom. The purpose of the visit is to introduce a police officer to the children as a community helper and friend. Hopefully, fears that a child harbors about police officers may be lessened and the child is encouraged to seek out an officer if lost in a public place, or in other emergencies. A mini lesson on strangers, along with the Walt Disney video "The Police Station" are also presented. The visit is primarily on a socializing level just to "get acquainted". Children are given an "Officer Bill" coloring book.

Officers visit each individual classroom and present a lesson on personal safety. The Walt Disney video "Too Smart for Strangers" is presented and discussed by the class. The children are also given a coloring book, called "The Safe Way to Walk and Play". Teachers are encouraged to go over the book in class, and the children are urged to take the book home and discuss it with their parents.

A drug prevention problem is presented. The basis of the program is a coloring book entitled "Only Sick People Need Drugs". The primary presenters of the program are the classroom teachers. At the end of the teacher's lesson on the topic, the SIP officers discuss the topic with the children. This reinforces what their teacher taught them and provides another adult's opinion to reinforce the classroom presentation. The children are encouraged to take the book home and discuss "medicine rules" and other drug related topics with their parents.

Officers present the video "Taking Responsibility: What's Wrong with Vandalism", and discuss the video and other topics with the class. Included in this topic is an introduction to the legal age of responsibility and a discussion of peer pressure.

Introduction to D.A.R.E. by D.A.R.E. Officers.

D.A.R.E. (Drug Awareness Resistance Education)

A program on shoplifting is presented during the month of November and December. Timed to coincide with the holiday shopping season, this program deals with the consequences of shoplifting. A Disney video "Paying the Price" introduces the concept to the students. In a short discussion afterwards, the officer covers the problems of peer pressure, loss of reputation, loss of trust, and other negative results of becoming a "thief".

There is no set program for these grade levels. Individual teachers are encouraged to avail their classes of the services of SIP officers for any specific topics they wish to be addressed. In previous years, vandalism, juvenile delinquency, criminal law, and other topics have been covered. For several years, one middle school had a very successful study of vandalism related problems, a part of which was a free form discussion with a SIP officer. 

D.A.R.E. PROGRAM

D.A.R.E. is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program. The program was developed jointly by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1983. In the following years, several thousand localities have begun D.A.R. E. Programs. In 1990, the Gloucester Township Police Department had one officer trained as a D.A.R.E. Officer at an Instructor's school offered by the Philadelphia Police Department. January of 1991 saw a pilot program initiated in the Gloucester Township Public Schools. Five fifth grades in two schools were selected as the initial recipients of the D.A.R.E. course of instruction. A positive evaluation led to the implementation in all fifth grades throughout the local school district.

D.A.R.E. teaches resistance skills to students in the targeted fifth grade level. It also attempts to enhance the child's sense of self esteem. Both, important to empower children to resist pressures to become involved in drug and alcohol abuse. D.A.R.E. also strives to increase rapport between the children and the police. The ten week program utilizes a curriculum developed by the L.A.P.D. and the L.A. Unified School District. Some methods employed by the certified D.A.R.E. officers include the development of a "D.A.R.E. WORD LIST", which helps the student with the vocabulary skills to learn about drugs and resistance skills. Also utilized are role playing, including the utilization of "the eight ways to say no", and the development by the students of an anti-drug commercial. Locally, among some options opened to the local D.A.R.E. officer, a poster and anti-drug slogan contest is being used, as are weekly anti-drug poems. Initial evaluations of the program have been positive. The program at the present time consists of two full time D.A.R.E. officers and one part time D.A.R.E. officer.

2007 D.A.R.E.  Graduation Photos

POLICE APPRECIATION WEEK

As part of the Society Improvement Program, the Gloucester Township Public Schools annually celebrate Police Appreciation Week. Timed to coincide with National Police Memorial Week in May, the program is the schools' way of saying thank you to the local police. All schools open their doors to all members of the Police Department, who are encouraged to drop in for a visit while on duty. Officers who do not usually get to interact with the students are able to visit and speak with the students informally. Officers are welcomed in the classrooms and lunchrooms, often staying for lunch or other activities. Individual schools plan special activities for the police officers. These include plays, assemblies, and even a drawing for a dinner as the students' guest at a local restaurant.

So that the celebration is not one-sided, the department responds with special events of their own. In the past we have arranged for special units of other law enforcement agencies to participate in the program. These have included the New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit, the Camden County Park Police Mounted Unit, the Camden County Sheriff's Department K-9 Unit, Aviation Unit, and the Underwater Dive Team, the F.B.I., A.T.F., and the US Customs Service K-9 Unit. The Gloucester Township Police Department puts on demonstrations and displays of police equipment and techniques, including the K-9 Unit and Special Response Team. Officers also play volleyball with faculty and students of township middle schools.

D.W.I. EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY PROGRAM

Uniformed police officers make presentations to high school students or adult community group members about intoxicated driving. These programs are given in lecture format accompanied by appropriate video presentations. The demonstration of various police equipment used in DWI cases may be included.

Additional information will be provided through a "question and answer" session between the officers and the group. Appropriate printed literature targeted to the audience will be distributed during the program.

Some of the objectives of this program include:

1. The participants will be able to describe the effects of alcohol on vision, judgement, and

physical dexterity which impair the ability to drive.

2. The participants will be able to cite moral and legal responsibilities to prevent others who are

under the influence of alcohol from driving.

3. The participants will be able to describe the current DWI laws, law enforcement procedures

and penalties in the State of New Jersey.