Nicholasville police D.A.R.E. truck takes second in national event

The Nicholasville Police Department’s D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) pickup placed second in a national competition in Nashville, Tenn., in July.

Officer Kevin Grimes, one of the department’s D.A.R.E. officers, said the truck, a 2006 Ford F150, used to have many designs, but he wanted to go with a D.A.R.E. theme.

"When I got that truck, it had an assortment of different designs highlighting the many different programs that we have, and I wanted to go with a D.A.R.E. and I got approval after a couple years," Grimes said. "It took me about a year to come up with a design that I thought fit the truck, and I thought would look good for the community, and what you see is what I came up with."

Grimes said during that year, he and a local business, Kentucky Wraps, drew up many ideas before settling on the design.

"I looked at a lot of different D.A.R.E. cars, D.A.R.E. trucks and different police vehicles, and I went down and sat with a guy at Kentucky Wraps here in Nicholasville which is located behind the Boot Store, and I asked him what we could do to get this truck this type of design," he said.

Last week, Grimes took the truck to the International D.A.R.E. Conference in Nashville, and decided on the spot to enter the truck in the competition.

"My category was the pickup truck/SUV category," he said. "The vehicle that won was a Ford Explorer that had a full wrap on the vehicle and had some additional things on it."

Coming away with a second-place trophy was rewarding.

"I am very pleased with it," he said. "The way it turned out from start to finish and actually going into the competition and getting second, I'm very pleased."

For more information about the D.A.R.E. program or the car, call the Nicholasville Police Department at 885-9467.