Pubdate: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 Source: Saipan Tribune (US MP) Copyright: 2005 Saipan Tribune Contact: http://www.saipantribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2666 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) LAPD AND HAWAII POLICE TO HONOR OFFICER MARATITA The Los Angeles Police Department in California and the Honolulu Police Department in Hawaii will be recognizing police officer Edward Maratita Jr. of the Department of Public Safety-Police Division in Saipan Maratita will be recognized and honored by his Hawaii training cadres in July 2005, followed by the Los Angeles Police Department in California on August 8, 2005. In a statement issued by the LAPD, it said that Maratita's leadership and accomplishment has been invaluable to the continued success of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education organization and the training centers. Maratita organizes and teaches D.A.R.E. events. "The most important thing we do is get kids to realize all of the special talents they have and give them alternatives to drug use," according to Maratita during a speech he gave to hundreds of trainees at the 2002 Educators Training Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is responsible for coordinating the Educators segment in the 2001 National D.A.R.E. Training Conference in Los Angeles, California and the 2002 California D.A.R.E. Officer Conference. He had led the Hawaii Training Cadres to two training conferences in 2002 to Las Vegas, Nevada and in 2003, Atlantic City, New Jersey. His Hawaii training cadres selected him as their 2002 Mentor of the Year. Maratita is currently the only officer worldwide who is certified to conduct any Educators segment within the training centers. He worked with the committee members to follow guidelines that would incorporate the Principles of Effectiveness and ensure the highest standards were met in the training curriculum. The officer was certified by the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is estimated that Maratita has trained more than 600 officers how to teach D.A.R.E. and he has taught the D.A.R.E. program to thousands of children both in Honolulu, Hawaii and Saipan. "There are thousands of children that [Maratita] has had an impact on and they have benefited from his teaching methods, kindness, caring and dedication to them and D.A.R.E.," the LAPD statement said. Upon completion of his military training in the Air Force, Maratita will have the privilege to instruct at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, as well as the Air Force bases in Japan and Hawaii. Since the officer's duty assignment will be out of Hawaii and California, he will be one of the training cadres of the LAPD Training Academy. In addition, he will be assisting and conducting trainings with the Carlsbad Police Department and State of Arizona Police Department/Southwestern Training Institute. (PR) - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom