Stafford, VA. The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce that Deputy Amanda Crabb was selected from a group of 36 law enforcement personnel to receive the prestigious Gene Ayers D.A.R.E. Visionary Award at the completion of the Virginia D.A.R.E. Officer Training 2017.

The 80-hour training course certifies a police officer or deputy to teach the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) curriculum at the elementary, middle school and high school levels. Deputy Crabb and other law enforcement personnel participated in the two-week D.A.R.E. training course that ran from Oct. 23 to Nov. 3 in Suffolk, Virginia.

The award is given to the student who the D.A.R.E. instructors and mentors believe brought vision, hard work and team spirit to their class. There is only one award given during each course and Deputy Crabb received it.

Deputy Tracy Scoggins, a D.A.R.E. instructor in Stafford and mentor at the training course, said Deputy Crabb exemplified the qualities the mentors and instructors look for in an award recipient.

“She was an excellent motivator and great with her peers,” Deputy Scoggins said. “And that is what they were looking for in a recipient for this award—a team player with a heart for the program. She truly excelled throughout the two weeks.”

The award is named after Gene Ayers, a retired Virginia State Trooper and former State Coordinator for D.A.R.E. in Virginia. His leadership earned him the National D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year Award in 2008, Virginia D.A.R.E. Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, Virginia D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year in 2013, and the National D.A.R.E. Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.

Deputy Crabb has already started teaching D.A.R.E. classes. She is excited to play an integral role in a program that empowers youth in the community to make good choices and lead drug-free lives.

“I am so honored to receive this award,” Deputy Crabb said. “The past two weeks were very intense and involved a tremendous amount of material. But it was all worth it—teaching D.A.R.E. is an incredibly rewarding experience.”