For Immediate Release:  May 20, 2024

HCSO Hosts DARE Program Graduation at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts (CSLA)

Hamilton County, TN – Earlier this morning, Sheriff Austin Garrett, School Resource Deputy and DARE Instructor Joseph Dangler, and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Deputy Unit, in conjunction with the administration of the Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts (CSLA), hosted a DARE graduation ceremony for students who recently completed the program.

This graduation class signifies the second academic year DARE has been taught at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts since the program was brought back to our community by the HCSO in 2023 after more than two decades. Approximately 87 students graduated from this year’s program at CSLA. To date, since the HCSO DARE Program was re-instituted in the Fall of 2022, we have had approximately 517 students graduate the Program county-wide.

“I am pleased to see this program now in its second year in our public schools. My administration understands the value of this safety program and the importance it plays in not only reducing drug addiction in children but also the many other important lessons and values it teaches our young people. With the unprecedented number of overdose deaths we are seeing across our state and our nation, along with the increase in juvenile violence, there could not be a more important time to teach the DARE Program in our local schools. We must give our young people the tools they need to educate themselves about the dangers of illegal and prescription drug abuse and avoid peer pressure by promoting respectful conduct, civility, and behavior,” stated Sheriff Austin Garrett.

In order to be a DARE Instructor, potential candidates are vetted by DARE mentors responsible for training new law enforcement personnel. The candidate must also be a POST-certified, uniformed law enforcement officer with at least two or more years of service and must successfully complete a rigorous 80-hour training course conducted by mentors with a significant number of years of classroom experience, as well as university-level educators from colleges of education. This coursework does not include the many additional hours of study and after-hours work required to test for the certification.  

“I am extremely proud of School Resource Deputy and DARE Instructor, Joseph Danger, for his hard work and dedication to the safety and education of the students at CSLA,” Sheriff Garrett further noted.

The HCSO would like to thank the administration and staff at CSLA as well as the Hamilton County Department of Education for their support in making this program possible for students.

For more information about the DARE Program, please visit: https://dare.org/.