EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
In addition to our DARE Program our department offers to the schools in our town an array of programs that a tailored to the needs of the students in that grade. The majority of these programs are taught by Police Officer Joseph Statz. PO Statz goes into all the elementary and middle schools in our school district and does a number of programs. A brief outline of the programs is listed below.
Kindergarten: "Officer Friendly" In this program Officer Statz speaks with the kids to start to develop a trust between the students and police officers. Officer Statz talks with the kids about the fact that the police are there to help you and not hurt you. Hopefully this helps to develop a feeling of trust on the part of the students toward the police.
Grade Two: "Child Awareness" In this program Officer Statz talks with the students about such topics as stranger danger and the concept of good touch and bad touch. The idea behind the program is to help children learn at a young age that not all people are their friends and that certain types of physically touching of their bodies by other people is not right. Officer Statz tells the kids how to report things that they feel are wrong or that they are not comfortable about.
Grade Four: "Child Abuse and Sexual Abuse" In this program Officer Statz talks in more detail about the issue of improper touching of their body by other people regardless of who that person may be. Officer Statz talks with the kids about people they can talk with at school to tell about things that they are not comfortable about.
Grade Six: "Shoplifting" This program is geared to tell the students the importance of honesty and that they should not take things that do not belong to them. Some of the more common ways that kids get dragged into committing the crime of shoplifting are explained to the students in hopes that they will respect the fact that they do not own the items and that if they want a certain item they need to pay for it.
Grade Eight: "Vandalism" Officer Statz talks with the students about respecting the property of other people and that it is not okay to damage the property of another person. Examples of things that violate the law of Criminal Mischief are explained to kids along with the consequences when they get caught.
The above programs are reviewed on a regular basis by our department and the Director of Health and Physical Education for the West Seneca Schools. Changes are made as needed and also the programs are kept up to date by the implementation of newer media sources that are more in tune with the students of today. For more information on these programs please contact our Family Offense Bureau at 716-674-2284 or by email at cunningham@wspolice.com.