Programs & Information

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)

This year, 36 million school children around the world - 26 million of whom are in the U.S. - will benefit from D.A.R.E. The highly acclaimed program gives children the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, or violence.

• Worthington has two D.A.R.E. officers - Kirk Honius (since 2000) and Dan Brouillet (since 2016).
• Worthington has had fifth grade D.A.R.E. since 1993 and over 1,600 students have participated. The fifth grade program lasts for 17 weeks Worthington has had seventh grade D.A.R.E. since 1998. This program lasts for eleven weeks. We have a D.A.R.E. night at the YMCA sponsored by Wells Fargo and a D.A.R.E. trip to Arnolds Park each spring.
• D.A.R.E. is supported by community members such as Wells Fargo, Optimist Club, Kiwanis, Men's VFW, Ladies VFW, YMCA, County Market, Hy-Vee, Appel Construction, Lioness Club, ISD 518, and many individual supporters. The parents and students of District 518 have only positive things to say about our D.A.R.E. program.

Description: Officer-led, in-classroom anti-drug, anti-gang, anti-violence program for school children around the world.

Founded: September 1983

Headquarters: Los Angeles, California

Mission: D.A.R.E.'s primary mission is to provide children with the information and skills they need to live drug-and-violence-free lives. Additionally, it establishes positive relationships between students and law enforcement, teachers, parents, and other community leaders.

Curriculum: Police Officers receive 80 hours of special training to be equipped with all the tools they need to teach a course in drug resistance and violence avoidance techniques.

D.A.R.E. Lessons Focus On: Providing accurate information about alcohol and drugs teaching students decision-making skills showing them how to resist peer pressure giving them ideas for alternatives to drug use, violence and drugs.

Participating States and Countries: All 50 states, U.S. Department of Defense Schools worldwide, and 52 countries around the world.

Trained Officers: About 49,000

Safe and Sober Program

Safe & Sober Minnesota is a logo, a theme, and a set of projects relating to enhanced enforcement and publicity of the enforcement effort.

The program includes:

• Periodic, intensified enforcement efforts consisting of saturation patrol or other enforcements.
• Media materials that tell the public when, where, how and most importantly, why such laws are being enforced.
• Local impact and activity data such as crashes, injuries, belt use rates, and citations are gathered to provide important feedback to the public.

The Worthington Police Department has been involved in this program from 1999 to the present, and is a three-time winner of Safe & Sober grants. These grants have provided additional money for traffic enforcement equipment, and scheduled overtime for our officers who participate in the Safe & Sober "Waves". The Safe & Sober "Waves" are set times and dates that provide added enforcement for such things as DWI and seat belt enforcement.

Our goal at the Worthington Police Department is not to produce large statistics, but to convince people to change their behavior and attitudes regarding impaired and unsafe driving. We plan to increase the number of overtime saturations next year, while supporting on-duty staff with traffic enforcement.

The Animal Control Officer responds to calls regarding animals running at large in the city of Worthington and surrounding areas. He/she enforces the City ordinances that apply to animals and recommends cases of neglect, abuse and animal mistreatment for prosecution.

The Animal Control Officer and the City make a strong effort to place all viable animals in caring homes and euthanize as few animals as possible. The City promotes the humane treatment of the animal population by encouraging responsible pet ownership and by prosecuting those who neglect or abuse their pets.

The City of Worthington now requires dog and cat owners to purchase a license for their pet. The 2024-25 licenses are available at the Worthington Police Department and the Veterinary Medical Center for a cost of $20 for spayed or neutered pets and $30 for non-spayed or neutered pets. Proof of a current rabies vaccination is needed at time of purchase. The new license is required by February 1, 2024 to prevent a citation.

If you would like to report an animal running at large, report a neglected or abused animal, or want to learn more about pet adoption call the Prairie Justice Center at (507) 372-8430.

The Worthington Police Department, in conjunction with the Nobles County Sheriff's Department, started the original Emergency Response Unit (ERU) with approximately ten officers in 1986. The team has expanded from 1986 to its present number of 13 officers. The team is made up of 11 City of Worthington Police Officers and 4 Nobles County Deputies. The Officers assigned to the unit specialize in: high risk entry, hostage rescue, chemical munitions, multiple types of weaponry, negotiation techniques, less lethal options, APC usage, riot control and 2 sniper/scout teams.

The Worthington/Nobles County ERU is responsible for handling a multitude of situations including: hostage subjects, suicidal persons, high risk warrant services, barricaded subjects and other public disturbances. ERU Officers receive approximately 80 hours of additional training during the fiscal year. Each Officer applies for duty as a member of the ERU. Each team member must gain a high level of experience in tactical operations prior to their use as a primary team member. There is additional Range Training and scenario training held each month.

K9 RED

• K-9 Red, our newest K-9 came to us in 2023. His handler, Sergeant Riley spent 13 weeks training with Red before graduating from Code Blue K9 LLC school.

K9 SKOL

K9 Skol came to WPD in 2024. He is a purebred German Shepherd from Slovakia and will be 2 years old in March. Skol and his handler, Officer Schroeder, spent 13 weeks at Code Blue K9 school in Rushford Minnesota for training. K9 Skol is a dual purpose K9 who is certified through the Unites States Police Canine Association (USPCA) in locating the odor of narcotics and patrol work. K9 Skol can be used to locate the odor of multiple narcotics, locate and apprehend fleeing criminals, locate missing persons, locate evidence and protect his handler. K9 Skol got his name due to his handlers love for the Minnesota Vikings. K9 Skol is a very energetic dog that does not know how big he is yet. K9 Skol lives with Officer Schroeder and enjoys playing fetch with his kong, riding around in the squad car people watching and running laps in the back yard.

• K-9 Patrol Car

  The patrol car used by the K-9 Unit is standard police car modified for transporting our dogs.Most noticeably, it has a platform in the rear seat specifically designed for the dog, and electric doors that may be opened remotely by the handler.The handler often has to leave his dog in the car while attending to other business and will leave the car running with the air conditioner or heater on.The car will activate the lights and siren if the temperature gets too hot inside the car.