Cool winner
DARE car takes trophy home
By Tribune staff
July 20, 2010 @ 9:00pm

Sgt. Brad Patzner is proud of his patrol car at the Barton County Sheriff's Office. Patzner took Car 66 to the Kansas Juvenile Officers Association conference in Topeka recently and won first place in the Cruiser Class of a car show for DARE vehicles.

DARE officers teach Drug Abuse Resistance Education to area elementary students. The conference was attended by Kansas DARE officers so they could get training and teaching ideas for their classes, Sheriff Greg Armstrong said.

About a dozen vehicles were entered in the car show, including the 2010 Dodge Charger that Patzner drives. Armstrong said he's gotten many comments about the car, thanks to the bold DARE logo on the hood. The back of the car sports the emblems of every school where the BCSO has a DARE program: Claflin, Ellinwood, Hoisington, Great Bend Middle School and Holy Family School in Great Bend. Armstrong said Detective Sergeant Rick Popp was responsible for the new design scheme on the patrol vehicles.

The DARE curriculum is designed to be taught by police officers, whose training and experience give them the background needed to answer the sophisticated questions often posed by young students about drugs and crime. Prior to entering the DARE program, officers undergo 80 hours of special training in areas such as child development, classroom management, teaching techniques and communication skills.