Officer Robert Muchenski instituted the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program in the Ross Police Department.   He first taught at the St. Teresa and St. Sebastian schools in the spring semester of 1990.  The program expanded in the fall of 1990 and included a pilot program in both Perrysville and Northway Elementary schools.  Full approval for the program to be taught in the entire North Hills School District was approved by the school board in the spring of 1991.  A second D.A.R.E. officer was trained in the spring of 1991, but resigned from the department at the completion of the training.  Officer Ron Michael who attended D.A.R.E. certification training in the summer of 1991 filled the vacancy in the Unit.  In the spring of 1992, the Special Programs Division was formed bringing the Crime Prevention Unit and the D.A.R.E. Unit into one division.  The program continued to expand and in the fall of 1992, Officers Bob Muchenski and Ron Michael became the first officers in western Pennsylvania certified to teach D.A.R.E. at the high school level.  Former chief Carl Zotter wanted to add a third officer to the Division and Officer Robert Gaertner was certified for elementary D.A.R.E. in the summer of 1993,  teaching on a part time basis.  Officer Michael retired in 1999 and his replacement, Officer Michael J. Thomas, attended D.A.R.E. training in 2000 and is now teaching in the schools.

D.A.R.E. is without question, one of the best programs for Ross Township in terms of relations with police and children, schools and parents. D.A.R.E. shows the need for early and continual drug education for the youth of today.  D.A.R.E. brings uniformed police officers into the classroom to teach children the skills necessary to resist peer pressure to experiment with drugs and to make good choices in life.  D.A.R.E. attacks the drug problem from the demand side - educating young people to stay away from drugs before they ever get involved.  D.A.R.E. is taught using a 14-week core curriculum.  This curriculum teaches kids to never to            by helping them build self-esteem, manage stress, foresee behavioral consequences, resist pro-drug media messages and successfully identify alternatives to drug use. The D.A.R.E. core curriculum targets students when they are the most vulnerable to peer pressure to experiment with drugs or make poor decisions.  During the 5th/6th grade, the D.A.R.E. program provides students with the skills they will need as young adults to make personal decisions.

Uniforms Police Officers instruct D.A.R.E. because of their years of direct experience with the ruined lives and crimes associated with substance abuse.  This gives them more credibility with students than regular classroom teachers.  Every D.A.R.E. officer must undergo 80 hours of specialized training in areas such as child development, classroom management, teaching techniques and communication skills. There is also a 10 lesson junior high curriculum and the high school curriculum. The latest component is a six-lesson parent program designed for parents of children in the core curriculum.

The D.A.R.E. Program is our most promising long-range solution. D.A.R.E. has helped to produce future generations of young adults who not only have no appetite for drugs, but who also have the strength of character to dissuade others from drug abuse.  The Ross Township Police Department Special Programs Division currently teaches the core program of D.A.R.E. in every elementary school in the North Hills School District, including parochial schools.  In every school a visitation is made to the kindergarten consisting of two visits where time permits. A four-lesson program is taught in either first or second grade and a five-lesson program is taught to either third or fourth grade.  In junior high school, programs are presented in  the eighth grade.  In senior high school, a two-week program is presented to tenth grade  students.