Along with teaching the students, Pastor has been an instructor throughout the Northeast of other officers and he is the lead senior mentor for the Connecticut State Police.
"Among Mark’s greatest accomplishments is his connection with the children he teaches and the relationships that last a lifetime," Shaw said in a statement.
D.A.R.E. — short for Drug Abuse Resistance Education — is a substance abuse prevention education program that seeks to prevent use of controlled drugs, membership in gangs, and violent behavior among preteens and teens.
In June 2002, Pastor was voted the Connecticut D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year.
He will be honored during the 30th Annual D.A.R.E. International Training Conference in Grapevine, Texas, in July.
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