Officer J.C.
Chief Anthony J.
Salvatore
introduced the department's robotic dog,
sponsored the Greater Hartford
Jaycees, at the 45th Canon-Greater Hartford golf tournament in June of
1996. Since his debut, Officer J.C, the robotic dog has made a number of
appearances at various functions which helps us get across the message of child
safety to children. When
the car moves, the dog's paws and eyelids move with the steering wheel, the car's
lights flash and the siren sounds. The operator, Officer Ed Kosinski,
can transmit his voice to a speaker in the robot and communicates
directly with the children, who flock to see it. The kids love talking
to Detective James Kelly who coordinates the program, and also developed
the idea for Officer J.C.
D.A.R.E
D.A.R.E., Drug Abuse Resistance Education was founded 1983 in Los Angeles, CA and has proven so successful that it is now being implemented in nearly 75 percent of our nation's school districts and in 44 countries around the world. The program, developed jointly by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District, initially focused on elementary school children. It has now been expanded to include middle school and high school.
This year 3.5 million school children around the world, 26 million in the US, will receive class room instruction.
D.A.R.E. is a uniformed police officer led series of classroom lessons that teach children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure.
D.A.R.E. is taught in the Cromwell Middle School in 5th grade. The classroom instruction is presented to approximately 140-150 students over a period of 9 weeks.
