The Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles Police Department developed D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program) in 1983. D.A.R.E. was brought to Missouri and the St. Louis area in 1989. The St. Louis County Police Department had been instructing the program in the Ferguson schools. In January 1997, Ferguson Police Department began instructing D.A.R.E. on a part-time basis and in August 1997, Ferguson Police Department began a full-time program.

The full-time D.A.R.E. program consists of 2 classes for the kindergarten through 4th grade lasting 20 minutes, 2 classes for the 6th grade lasting 30 minutes and the core class for the 5th grade lasting one hour per week for 17 weeks.

The program is not just a drug program, but a prevention program that teaches life coping skills such as:

The program focuses on three major drugs:

The D.A.R.E. Officer interacts with parents, students, and teachers in the following ways: