Sponsored by The City of Salem for the Future of Our Youth and Our Community




Salem was one of the original thirteen jurisdictions included in Virginia’s pilot endeavor,
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.). In 1986 the Department began sending
officers to participate in the training program for the position of DARE Instructor.

There are three officers assigned to the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program. One Officer is assigned to Andrew Lewis Middle School, one is assigned to
East Salem & South Salem Elementary Schools and one is assigned to G.W. Carver and
West Salem Elementary Schools. They are responsible for providing the D.A.R.E.
Lessons at their respective school. These officers spearhead the annual D.A.R.E. Picnic. 
All of them spend countless hours preparing for and working at the Salem Camp
D.A.R.E. each summer. They also work in unison to create and build the D.A.R.E.
Christmas float for the annual Salem Christmas Parade.






In January, 1991, seeking to broaden the community’s support for its youth, Assistant City Manager Forest G. Jones and Chief of Police Harry T. Haskins, Jr. formed a committee composed of representatives from the administration of the City of Salem Schools, departments of City government, citizens at large, and the Virginia Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services. The Committee created a new concept for the delivery of DARE principles through a week long summer camp program using the Children’s Home facility known as the Camp
on Craig.




The program was designed to promote fun and fellowship with positive role models and improve communication skills and self-image. The approach allows the children to interact with police officers, fire personnel and other public employees in a relaxed environment, hopefully promoting more positive perceptions. This creation was named “Salem Camp DARE”.



Salem Camp DARE opened with its first ten students on June 17, 1991. Sixty-seven middle school boys and girls completed this first-in-the-nation community project supported totally by the City Administration and Council in partnership with the Virginia Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services. Since the initial startup of the Camp in 1991, it has continued to grow in number of enthusiastic participants.



The response from the sixth graders to the opportunity to attend the 1992 Salem Camp DARE was enormous. One hundred and forty (140) students attended, requiring the addition of one more week and doubling each week’s allocation to twenty. The number of counselors was doubled to six. In addition to DARE lessons, the Sixth Graders enjoyed a challenging “high ropes” course, trout fishing, softball, basketball, horseback riding, volleyball, fire safety, DARE Olympics, water safety, canoeing and campfire activities.

With the growth in Salem Camp DARE and expansion of the Virginia Baptist Children’s Home Program, Salem found it necessary to look for an alternative location for Salem Camp DARE. In January 1995 an agreement was reached with the Presbyterian Church for the use of the
facilities at Camp Fincastle in Botetourt County.


Camp Bethel was chosen as the new location for Salem Camp DARE in February 2003. Camp Bethel is the outdoor ministry of the Virginia District of the Church of the Brethren. Also located in Botetourt County, Camp Bethel afforded modern facilities that would provide campers with an excellent adventure. Camp Bethel borders the Jefferson National Forest and has 470 acres
available for activities. Camp Bethel is accredited by the American Camping Association.



Salem Camp DARE became recognized on an international level as a result of being named one of ten finalists for the1994 Webber-Seavey Award for Quality in Law enforcement.The Webber-Seavey Award is sponsored by the International Association  of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and Motorola, Inc. and attracts  entries from around the world, including countries such
as Israel, Guam, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, and across the United States. Salem’s entry in the competition was a plastic bound booklet containing 70 pages. The entry gave an
overview of the creation of Camp Dare and listed it’s expectations. The booklet also contained clippings of newspaper articles about the camp and letters from students who had
previously attended the camp.


Since its inception in 1991, the camp served 3,761 middle school students who attended one of the summer sessions.  Due to budget constraints, Salem Camp DARE was suspended in February of 2010.