Westerville Parent Council is sponsoring an adults-only, community awareness event called Operation: Street Smart on Tuesday evening February 16, from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. in the Westerville South High School Media Center, located at 303 South Otterbein Avenue. There is no charge to attend and reservations are not needed. CEU credit will be available for Westerville City School District staff. The goal of the program, which will be presented by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, is to provide current and up-to-date narcotics information to individuals who deal with youth on a daily basis.
Topics to be covered include trends, terminology, paraphernalia, concealment techniques, and physiological effects. The target audience is D.A.R.E. and school resource officers, school administrators and school board members, teachers, counselors, coaches, school nurses, support staff, parents, and groups and organizations of any kind that deal with juveniles.
Operation: Street Smart will be conducted by three current/former undercover detectives who possess more than 50 years of combined narcotics experience. The program will include actual examples of current designer street drugs, and drug paraphernalia will be on display to depict the ease in camouflaging drug use from adults. A strong emphasis will be placed on the physiological effects of drugs. What to look for in marijuana, cocaine, crack, heroin and methamphetamine use will also be covered extensively. Additionally, a portion of the program will deal with prescription medications, due to easy accessibility in most households.
Operation: Street Smart is a collaborative effort between D.A.R.E. and the Special Investigations Unit of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department. The award-winning program has been presented more than 1,500 times to some 150,000 people.