The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office welcomed D.A.R.E. officers from across the state this week to Winnemucca for the annual D.A.R.E. conference. Each year, a different city hosts the state conference. Officers and deputies come from across Nevada to gain valuable knowledge to take back to their agencies and into the schools they teach at.
Deputy (and D.A.R.E. officer) Angel Cardenas said that various coalitions and education leaders are also invited to attend the yearly training conference. This year's teaching agenda focused on: sexting, social media, teen court, emergency response to schools and active shooter training. School Resource Officer Jeff Dawson led much of the instruction.
Cardenas said the conference is part of the annual training that D.A.R.E. officers are required to participate in for re-certification. The conference is held in different locations each year to give more officers the chance to participate. The last time it was held in Winnemucca was over 7 years ago.
At any given time there are between 75 and 100 D.A.R.E. officers in the state of Nevada. Humboldt County is home to seven of those, according to Cardenas.
Around 15 officers and education leaders attended the conference which took place at the sheriff's office and Grass Valley Elementary School on Tuesday and Wednesday. Lisa Davis, D.A.R.E. coordinator for the Carson City Sheriff's Office said she can't say enough about Humboldt County's hospitality.
It's "phenomenal," she said. "The businesses just open their doors."
In addition to offering training for people from around the state, the conference is also an opportunity to raise funds for the D.A.R.E. program. Businesses and individuals in the community donate prizes for a raffle and all the money raised goes toward buying supplies for students through the program.
"There is a lot of community support," Cardenas said.[[In-content Ad]]
