Cassville police chief appointed to nationwide D.A.R.E. board
Chief Kammerlohr
April 10, 2019
Charlea Estes-Jones
A local chief of police received a huge honor last month when she was asked to join the nationwide D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) board. Chief Dana Kammerlohr, with the Cassville Police Department, was formally asked to join the D.A.R.E. Executive Law Enforcement Advisory Board at the end of February.
She will join members of the law enforcement from across North America, including representatives from Canada and Mexico. Kammerlohr is one of only 14 members of the board that includes officers, chiefs of police and representatives from various areas of law enforcement, including attorney generals.
She said she was surprised and humbled to learn she had been selected. She said, “I was very surprised, it came out of nowhere.”
Kammerlohr has been a local advocate for D.A.R.E. since she become involved in the program in 1993. In those 26 years, Kammerlohr continues to see value in the program and encourages its use locally, getting recertified each year to teach.
She was in charge of teaching D.A.R.E. in five schools, all except Cassville, across the county from 1993 until 2009. Cassville had its own D.A.R.E. officer at that point. Kammerlohr then oversaw an appointment of the officer at Cassville until last month when she became recertified to teach the class herself. This year, she will be in charge of the program again at Cassville. She said, “I got recertified and I start next week. The curriculum has changed some since I taught. I’ll be teaching this year.”
Cassville’s program is presented to sixth grade students.
In her position on the advisory board, she will have the opportunity to encourage the program’s use and bring ideas regarding developing curricula for use in schools and how D.A.R.E. should help aid the law enforcement community.
Chief Kammerlohr said that in her years of involvement in the program, she’s seen the benefits. She said, “I feel that it is actually a program that works. It’s not the only program, there are other programs that correlate it, but I really like D.A.R.E.
“When I first became a D.A.R.E. officer, I thought I could save everyone from drugs on the student level. But I soon learned they made their own choices, and I could give them the tools to make better choices.
“There was always one student every year who says ‘Thank you. You made a difference.’
“I even have adults tell me that I’ve made a difference in their lives through the program with the skills they were taught.”
According to the invitation letter from Kim W. Hawkes, Central Region Director, Kammerlohr was chosen because of her position of chief and dedication to D.A.R.E. as well as her perspective by being involved in a small police department.
City Administrator Steve Walensky said, “This is a great honor to be chosen to contribute and add leadership to such a vital program for youth across the nation. Having Chief Kammerlohr selected from our community shows how successful we have been here in Cassville.”
Kammerlohr will be on the board for two years and will meet in a different city once or twice a year during that time. Her first meeting will be June 23, 2019, in Phoenix, Ariz. D.A.R.E. America provides airfare, a hotel and expenses for her attendance.
D.A.R.E. America was formed in 1983 and now has programs all across the world in schools educating kids on the dangers of drugs and addictive substances.
Charlea Estes-Jones
A local chief of police received a huge honor last month when she was asked to join the nationwide D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) board. Chief Dana Kammerlohr, with the Cassville Police Department, was formally asked to join the D.A.R.E. Executive Law Enforcement Advisory Board at the end of February.
She will join members of the law enforcement from across North America, including representatives from Canada and Mexico. Kammerlohr is one of only 14 members of the board that includes officers, chiefs of police and representatives from various areas of law enforcement, including attorney generals.
She said she was surprised and humbled to learn she had been selected. She said, “I was very surprised, it came out of nowhere.”
Kammerlohr has been a local advocate for D.A.R.E. since she become involved in the program in 1993. In those 26 years, Kammerlohr continues to see value in the program and encourages its use locally, getting recertified each year to teach.
She was in charge of teaching D.A.R.E. in five schools, all except Cassville, across the county from 1993 until 2009. Cassville had its own D.A.R.E. officer at that point. Kammerlohr then oversaw an appointment of the officer at Cassville until last month when she became recertified to teach the class herself. This year, she will be in charge of the program again at Cassville. She said, “I got recertified and I start next week. The curriculum has changed some since I taught. I’ll be teaching this year.”
Cassville’s program is presented to sixth grade students.
In her position on the advisory board, she will have the opportunity to encourage the program’s use and bring ideas regarding developing curricula for use in schools and how D.A.R.E. should help aid the law enforcement community.
Chief Kammerlohr said that in her years of involvement in the program, she’s seen the benefits. She said, “I feel that it is actually a program that works. It’s not the only program, there are other programs that correlate it, but I really like D.A.R.E.
“When I first became a D.A.R.E. officer, I thought I could save everyone from drugs on the student level. But I soon learned they made their own choices, and I could give them the tools to make better choices.
“There was always one student every year who says ‘Thank you. You made a difference.’
“I even have adults tell me that I’ve made a difference in their lives through the program with the skills they were taught.”
According to the invitation letter from Kim W. Hawkes, Central Region Director, Kammerlohr was chosen because of her position of chief and dedication to D.A.R.E. as well as her perspective by being involved in a small police department.
City Administrator Steve Walensky said, “This is a great honor to be chosen to contribute and add leadership to such a vital program for youth across the nation. Having Chief Kammerlohr selected from our community shows how successful we have been here in Cassville.”
Kammerlohr will be on the board for two years and will meet in a different city once or twice a year during that time. Her first meeting will be June 23, 2019, in Phoenix, Ariz. D.A.R.E. America provides airfare, a hotel and expenses for her attendance.
D.A.R.E. America was formed in 1983 and now has programs all across the world in schools educating kids on the dangers of drugs and addictive substances.