Thank You Mike Mitchell

I had the honor of attending the 05-31-14 Barnegat D.A.R.E graduation. I attended many of these events as member of the Board of Education. However, this one was most special. I had the opportunity to witness the birth and maturation of this program. It is wonderful to see an army of young men and women preaching the option of drug abstinence. As wonderful as it was to witness the young army it was equally sad to see the retirement of Barnegat’s .D.A.R.E program creator, Detective Mike Mitchell.

Mike Mitchell’s dedication made this program possible. There was inital strong opposition to this program. The police chief at the time did not favor this program in particular or police involvement in the schools in general. There were annual funding battles with the township resisting payment with the school board pushing for the programs. Thankfully this does not appear to be an issue today.

I grew up in the Vailsburg section of Newark, New Jersey. I recall with respect and fondness Officer Rizzo. Officer Rizzo was a local policeman who reminded us continuously that he wanted no problems in his area. We would occasionally act inappropriately. Officer Rizzo did not take us to court or arrest us. He grabbed us by the back of the neck reminded us what we were doing wrong and encouraged us with a boot in the rear end moving us in the right direction. That was time when police success was measured by how many arrests were not made. That guiding principle is lost today. Weak politicians make more and more actions criminal to show they are tough on crime. Officer Rizzo would be disciplined for harassment today even though none of us felt that way. Now, most police work is done in a court system buried in statistical bureaucracy where youthful human beings are numbers.

Mike Mitchell is the Officer Rizzo of his day. What Officer Rizzo did with his hands and feet; Officer Mitchell did with education. Like Officer Rizzo, Mike Mitchell measures success by illegal acts not performed rather than arrests after the fact.

My children, and thousands others are better off because of Mike Mitchell. There will never be another Officer Mitchell just like there will never be another Officer Rizzo. Hopefully, someone else will step into Officer Mitchell’s footsteps and create his own path to follow. What should never be forgotten is that there would be no new path without the original path and it’s creator. Mike Mitchell.