Surfing sheriff's detectives fight youth wave of drug use

From FloridaToday.com

Citing an increase in crime influenced by young people using or seeking prescription drugs, three detectives with a passion for surfing want to get bored teens interested in boards to curb the problem.

Brevard County Sheriff’s investigators Steve Fernez, Troy Deavers and Brandon Gish created the Law Enforcement Officer Surfing Association this year to shred prescription drug abuse among youth. They initially want to target beach communities rich with surfing tradition.

“There are a lot of cops that surf. We thought this would be a great way to present drug education,” Gish said. “It all came about while we were surfing.”

Gish, who investigates property and violent crimes, said drug dependency is the root cause in most of his assigned cases from the past three years.

“It’s astounding how bad, specifically, the prescription drug epidemic has become,” Gish said. “Teenagers get in trouble when they are idle and they have nothing else to do to occupy their time.”
Numbers are staggering

According to the 2010 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, 26.9 percent of Brevard County high school students and 18.2 percent of middle school students surveyed reported using illicit drugs other than marijuana in their lifetime.

Also in the survey, 14.2 percent of Brevard high school students claimed to have used prescription pain relievers, compared with 9.7 statewide.

LEOSA ideally would like to see its drug awareness programs instituted in middle and high schools.

“There is no significant drug education program in our schools for middle school on in to high school, which is one of the most impressionable times for needing drug education, when they are bombarded with these types of things,” Gish said.

O’Neill surf team member Jassett Umbel, 17, of Melbourne Beach, personally knows the damage drugs have done to others.

“Kids my age, they get involved with doing stuff because everybody else is doing it and feel peer pressure,” Umbel said at a LEOSA fundraiser last month in Indialantic.

“I've seen so many people lose their lives to drugs, and it’s awful. I'm so glad they are doing this, because it’s really sad to see people you know become a completely different person, and then they are gone.”
Target audience

Certified training instructors through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Fernez, 33, and Gish, 27, plan to make presentations at schools, youth groups and community centers.

Brevard County Sheriff Jack Parker supports the concept, as well as his investigators’ efforts.

“I am very proud that our deputies have created a program and volunteered their personal time to teach teens the value of living an active, drug-free life,” Parker said. “There is no doubt their efforts will make a difference.”

Programs must go through a vetting process before Brevard Public Schools allows presentations to students.

A panel of district employees with knowledge of the subject decides whether the program meets the requirements of Florida statutes, board policies and research-based criteria.

“We want to see the research base that says that program is effective and positively impacting student behavior,” said Beth Thedy, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services and Exceptional Education.
Tragic accounts

LEOSA plans to go beyond “just say no to drugs” to educate teens with a timeline of drug abuse, what they can expect if they become an addict and tragic first-person accounts.

“We are telling them why it is not good for them, exactly what these drugs are, the addiction qualities that come with it, what happens once you are addicted and try to come off it, and what kind of torture the body goes through during detox,” Fernez said. “It’s a more intense program geared toward basically opening up their eyes to what the lifestyle of a drug addict is and what it can do to their bodies.”

They also will provide resources for teens in trouble.

Members of LEOSA will meet with Brevard Public Schools officials this month.

“I support anything that will help change our culture of drug use with students,” said school board member Andy Ziegler. “I think the problem is bigger than anyone wants to admit. I’m all for whatever any group wants do to help us curb the problem and do it in a way that we help kids make good decisions.”

LEOSA hosts monthly paddle-out days to build participation of law enforcement. They plan to host two annual surfing competition fund-raisers and create surf teams.

“We are trying to keep these kids in a good school-based function with their surf teams and see that spread throughout the county,” Fernez said.