DATE: Sunday, July 13, 1997                 TAG: 9707110263

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 16   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: AHOSKIE, N.C.                     LENGTH:  105 lines

COMMUNITY POLICING STOPS CRIME BEFORE IT STARTS

Steve Hoggard, Ahoskie's police chief, believes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

He has assigned two officers to work with community service programs, such as DARE (drug abuse resistance education), others aimed at elementary and high school aged youths and crime prevention for the elderly.

Sgt. Curtis Freeman works full time at community policing, as it is known, assisted by Sgt. Jeanette Mathias, who also runs a patrol shift of six officers.

Community policing is designed to deal with crime before instead of after it happens. It provides police support to those at risk of committing crimes (such as young people) and those at risk of becoming victims (such as the elderly).

An increasing number of municipalities are setting up such programs, which consistently earn high marks from the public and law enforcement officials alike.

``We've been running the DARE program since 1988,'' says Hoggard, ``at Robert L. Vann Elementary School. The program is for fifth-graders and reaches between 200 and 220 children each year. It's conducted during regular school hours, over a 17-week period.''

DARE has a standard curriculum that is used nationwide. In North Carolina, the State Bureau of Investigation is responsible for the program. Officers who teach it, such as Freeman and Mathias, complete a three-week training course.

``We're doing it very successfully, I think,'' says Hoggard. ``Sergeants Freeman and Mathias are very energetic in the way they deliver it. It takes a certain type of person to interact with a 10- or 11-year-old child.''

The program covers peer pressure, drug prevention, drug education and violence prevention.

``The children interact with the officer,'' says Hoggard. ``They do skits and sing songs. The program educates about problems with drugs and violence. It lets the children know that people in the drug culture are involved in shootings and other things.''

Freeman said, ``The first thing about the DARE program is I love it. It's an attempt to stop crime. Most police work is after the fact, reactive. The DARE program is a chance to cut it off before it gets started.

``Our first group of kids are seniors in high school now. It's very effective. About 75 percent of my information comes from my students. Out of the first 200 kids, 150 are graduating.

``Basically, it's home training away from home,'' he continues. ``Some people say the family, police, social services are not doing their job. But I believe it's all of them working together.''

Ahoskie also has a police chaplain program using five volunteers, all ordained ministers.

The chaplains are available to counsel police officers, and also work with young people and those who are - or are behaving in such a way that they might be close to being - arrested.

Such programs can frequently diffuse tense, adversarial situations to the advantage of all concerned, preventing the need for traditional police action.

Hoggard has high praise for how Freeman handles his community policing assignments.

``He's a whiz at it,'' says Hoggard. ``He enjoys it. It's what he likes to do. He goes to all the schools in the area.

``Sgt. Freeman did 50 community-based programs last year. He's done seminars for senior citizens. The first was last fall, on building rip-offs. And he works with crime prevention for the elderly.

``We use him as a trainer within the department, and he does an excellent job.''

Mathias also gets high marks from the chief. ``She's one course shy of completing a criminal justice program,'' Hoggard says. ``She also handles cases involving child abuse and sexual assault.''

Freeman is looking for local businesses with money to donate for environmental projects and talking with Ahoskie's parks and recreation department about more parks.

It's a simple equation, he points out: As the quality of life goes up and recreational opportunities increase, then crime, drug abuse and violence go down. It's also proactive, rather than reactive, and that appeals to Freeman.

``We're getting ready to start the `Are You Okay?' program for senior citizens,'' continues Freeman. ``It will check on area senior citizens once a week and make sure they're OK. It's something new we're trying to get off the ground.''

In March, Freeman went to a three-day conference in Williamsburg that was attended by police, sheriff's department personnel and senior citizens. Freeman traveled to the conference with the representative from Hertford County's Office of Aging.

Locally, Freeman works closely with Lt. Ovell Vaughan, the crime prevention officer for neighboring Murfreesboro's police department.

``Our primary responsibility is Ahoskie,'' says Hoggard. ``But Ahoskie is a shopping hub, attracting people from throughout the area. Our programs can also reach other people who come here.''

Adds Freeman: ``We're not able to touch or save everybody. But if you can touch one person, it's worth it. That one person touches many.

``Some people say, `Treat everyone the same.' I believe you can't treat everyone the same, because they have different backgrounds and needs. But you can treat everyone fairly.''

Some years back, when Freeman was 12 or 13 years old, he was on a pony league baseball team. Hoggard was the coach. The last year Freeman played on it, the team won the league championship.

Now Freeman is a coach, both on and off the field. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS

Ahoskie Mayor Arthur Lee Wiggins, left to right, Police Chief Steve

hoggard, Sgt. Crutis Freeman and Capt. Mike Cherry work in the DARE

and community policing programs. Community policing is designed to

deal with crime before - instead of after - it happens by providing

police support to those at risk of committing crimes and those at

risk of becoming victims.

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