Sheriff Pohlmann and Maj. Clark tell D.A.R.E. program graduates they must make the right choices in life and told parents drug enforcement efforts are aimed at saving their children from a life of torment and crime

Sheriff James Pohlmann speaks to children and their parents and relatives.

Maj. Chad Clark talks to the students, parents and relatives.

Relatives of a Chalmette boy on hand for his graduation from the Sheriff Office Drug Abuse Resistance Education program said he enjoyed the course and has learned about the dangers of drugs and how to resist them.

“My son is very excited about (graduating),” said Kenyon Angeletti, whose boy is Kyron Angeletti. “He enjoyed it, including all the songs he learned.’’

“He learned about the dangers of drugs and how to resist them,’’ grand-mother Deborah Paul said. She also said,”I think it should go further. Churches should be doing this for young people’’
Kyron was among 112 5th-graders at Lacoste Elementary who graduated the D.A.R.E. program taught in schools by sheriff’s deputies. The program is aimed at trying to keep youngsters from using drugs including tobacco and alcohol or taking part in violence or bullying others.

Sheriff James Pohlmann and Maj. Chad Clark spoke to students and a large turnout of relatives, telling the kids they must concentrate on making the right choices to have productive lives, including listening to their parents and teachers and deciding who they should and shouldn’t associate with.

The sheriff praised parents for coming out and encouraged them to continue staying focused on their children, including talking often with them and looking for warning signs to help prevent drug use or be alerted to them actually using drugs.

If necessary, drug test kits are available at pharmacies to test young people, the sheriff told parents. If there is a problem it is important to rescue them before they become involved in the criminal justice system and end up in prison, the sheriff said.

Educating children early on about the hazards of drug abuse is the best hope to reduce future use and a life tortured by drug addiction and criminal acts to support a drug habit, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

“How do you stop the crime problem,’’ the sheriff asked children and parents. “You’ve got to stop the drug problem,’’ he answered.

The sheriff said many people have family members affected by illegal drugs.

“Drugs destroy your life, your family and your community,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. The parish jail is filled with people who are there because of drug problems, either because they were arrested with drugs or the need for money to buy drugs led them to get caught stealing or burglarizing, the sheriff said.

“Learn the warning signs of drug use,’’ in young people, Sheriff Pohlmann said to parents, including:

– Loss of interest in things they used to do such as sports, dance or reading.
– Hanging around with new groups of friends unknown to parents.
– Sudden attitude or mood swings.
– Sudden problems connected with school and academics.

Talk regularly with your children and be familiar with their friends, the sheriff said.

If parents see signs of possible problems, don’t be hesitant to ask what is happening. “It’s not something they will grow out of and it needs to be addressed,’’ the sheriff said.

Maj. Clark, commander of the Special Investigations Division including the Narcotics Unit, said it takes the kind of education effort given by Sheriff’s Office drug resistance instructors at parish schools to affect the drug problem in America as well as solid law enforcement to stop drug dealers.

Clark said overdose deaths have been going down in the parish, with three in the last 18 months compared to 12 in the year before that. A combination of factors led to that including law enforcement diligence, education and efforts by paramedics to save lives, Clark said.

“We can’t arrest ourselves out of this problem,’’ Clark said.

The resurgence of the drug heroin is concerning law enforcement and health care officials nationwide, he said.

Maj. Clark told children they have received the tools they need to begin making right choices. Clark also pledged to parents narcotics officers will continue to do their best to rid the parish of drug-dealers.

Several hundred 5th-grade students graduate each semester from the D.A.R.E. program given by St. Bernard sheriff’s officers Lt. Lisa Jackson, commander of the program, and Sgt. Darrin Miller. The D.A.R.E. program, held in both public and private schools, was re-established in 2009, four years after Hurricane Katrina.