Title
Comprehensive Drug Plan Year 2 Public Education Campaign-RTS Bus Ads (NB)
Explanation
On July 26, 2004, the City Commission approved the second year of funding of the Gainesville Police Department's Comprehensive Drug Plan, and referred the issue of aspects of the public awareness campaign to the Public Safety Committee.
The Public Safety Committee held two meetings to discuss this referral and received input from Police, City Attorney, and RTS staff, as well as from UF Student Government. Gainesville Police Department provided a well thought out plan for the next year to conduct education awareness campaigns on the impact of drugs and alcohol in the community, utilizing many venues, including the use of RTS bus ads. The new RTS bus ads will depict a generic photo of both a male and female with a message related to date rape prevention as it pertains to date rape drugs. Student Government representatives at the meeting felt this newest ad was a strong and powerful message that would reach the majority of students with the intended educational impact.
Additional educational components include "Make the Right Choice" presentations directed at public school students, drug ads targeted at UF/SFCC in student publications in partnership with University Police Department and Santa Fe Community College Police Department, and to the Pace Center for Girls on the possible consequences of drug use, including teen pregnancy, birth defects and sexual battery.
The eight week campaign for the RTS bus ads that were posted during the first year of the drug plan has concluded and those particular ads are no longer being placed on the buses.
The Public Safety Committee strongly supports the use of bus ads in the police department's comprehensive drug plan education campaign.
Recommendation
The City Commission accept the Public Safety Committee's report and support of the second year Comprehensive Drug Plan education initiative and remove this item from the pending referral list.