American Heroes Radio

Methamphetamine - Community Prevention Tactics

Episode No. 27 Methamphetamine - Community Prevention Tactics

In the 1970s, Linda Flanders was the first female police officer to join the Mill Valley police Department (California).  By 1980, she had moved across the bay and joined the San Francisco Police Department. During her career she was promoted to the rank of Inspector and trained as a Child Interview Specialist. Linda Flanders worked for several years in the Juvenile Division’s Child Sexual Assault Detail.

Linda Flanders has a degree in Criminal Justice and became a Movement Education Teacher in 1991. Since 1999, she has worked as an independent educational filmmaker and, co-developed the “The Movie Making Process©” as a learning and teaching tool for today’s kids. Using a mix of art education, pop-culture and digital technology the process has developed into the 21st Century Prevention Program. The original work, “The Movie Making Process”© was recently nominated by the State of Wisconsin as their “Most Promising Prevention Program”.

Linda Flanders has published several articles on alternative learning styles and children who exhibit atypical behavior. And, is the author of the self-help Cinema-therapy book for teens Hollywood Endings and How To Get One.  The prevention program for communities is called The Northern Lights; Shining The Light on the Meth-edemic and mixes entertainment and education to deal with methamphetamine specifically and addiction in general. Linda Flanders’ current project is to work with communities nationwide on the prevention program and evaluation, document it in a peer-reviewed article and submit the findings to the National Institute of Health as a model program. She is actively looking for communities to join this endeavor. www.taprootinc.com

Chief of Police Tim Sletten worked his way up through the ranks of the Red Wing Police Department (Minnesota) and was appointed Chief in 2004. He is very active with the town’s community groups and a visual presence at all events. As a small town Chief, he’s learning quickly how to deal with global issues at the local level. He’s an advocate for up-to date training, known for addressing community concerns immediately and recognizes the need to connect with young people through their own interests. Of The Northern Lights; Shining The Light on the Meth-edemic project, Chief Tim Sletten said, “This is the first thing I’ve ever seen that was created specifically for the kids.”