CASE STUDY
SOLVING DRUGS & CRIME IN
LOS ANGELES
In the face of the undeniable cause-and-effect relationship between drug abuse and crime rates, Scientologists brought the Truth About Drugs program to the two leading Los Angeles law enforcement agencies that battle crime and drug abuse: the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), the world’s largest sheriff’s department.
The LAPD distributes thousands of copies of The Truth About Drugs booklets at its stations across the city. The LAPD collaborates with the Foundation for a Drug-Free World to hold drug prevention community activities such as “National Night Out,” an annual initiative that fosters crime prevention activities to create safer neighborhoods through community partnerships. A police station commander in Los Angeles described the value of the Truth About Drugs program in his precinct:
“The educational pamphlets and videos have been invaluable in educating the community on the negative repercussions that illegal drugs have on society.”
Through Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies, more than 2,000 at-risk youth have completed Truth About Drugs education.
A sergeant who uses the materials daily in his work said: “Everything in the Truth About Drugs curriculum is pure gold. There is no message about drug abuse that is more penetrating than what this program provides—we can’t top it.”
In 2011, the Los Angeles County Sheriff directed members of his Multi-Faith Clergy Council to undergo training on the Truth About Drugs education curriculum, encouraging them to bring the program to their neighborhoods. One hundred clergy representing a broad range of faith communities, including Jews, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs, participated in the four-week course.
The Sheriff described the results of his department’s implementation of the program:
“The Truth About Drugs education program that the Church of Scientology supports means everything to the safety of our schools and neighborhoods. It is a tremendously successful program worldwide and particularly needed. This is why we have trained a corps of our own officers in the use of this unparalleled program.”
