Wake Forest Police Chief Jeff Leonard has been named the 2016 North Carolina D.A.R.E. Officers’ Association Glen Mowery Executive of the Year. The honor is a tribute to Mowery, a retired Charlotte-Mecklenburg Deputy Police Chief who started the D.A.R.E. program in Charlotte.
The award was presented to Chief Leonard at the 25th Annual N.C. D.A.R.E. Officers’ Association (NCDOA) training conference in Atlantic Beach on Jan. 14. Leonard received the award due to his longstanding support for the D.A.R.E. program in Wake Forest and across the state.
Also during the NCDOA Conference, Officer Scott Graham was sworn in as NCDOA president for 2016. A Wake Forest Police Officer since 2005, Graham has taught and graduated over 1,500 elementary school students during his tenure as a D.A.R.E. instructor in Wake Forest-area schools. As a D.A.R.E. mentor, he also trains other police officers to become D.A.R.E. instructors. Since 2010 he has assisted in the training of over 90 new D.A.R.E. officers in North Carolina.
For more information about the Wake Forest Police Department D.A.R.E. program, visit www.wakeforestnc.gov/dare.aspx or contact Officer Graham at sgraham@wakeforestnc.gov.
