Jermaine Galloway, a 6’9” law enforcement officer from Idaho, and creator of Tall Cop Says Stop, travels to communities across the country to share his knowledge and experience in order to make a difference.

On Monday, Jan. 14, the first ever visit from Tall Cop to East Grand Rapids informed community members on the dangers of drug use and underage alcohol consumption through an energetic and information-filled presentation.

Parents, teachers, faculty, and other community members were the audience of Tall Cop’s presentation.

As a parent of two high school students at East Grand Rapids, as well as a chemistry teacher and a girl’s basketball coach for the high school, Heather Carlson found the Tall Cop presentation very helpful from her perspective. Carlson found herself not very knowledgeable on the topic of drugs, which is why she found the information she learned to be useful.

“I thought it was really helpful, I learned some different warning signs that people are using certain drugs” Carlson said. “We also learned about the concentrations and strengths of the drugs and the outcomes people can get from using them.”

Many parents find themselves unaware about the dangers of the drugs that are targeted toward their own children, which is why it is important for our entire community to be educated.

Zach Wiener, also a chemistry teacher at the high school as well as the coach of the bowling team, attended the presentation, and found it very interesting and educational.

“I thought it was interesting, especially learning about vaping because it is so new,” Wiener said.

Wiener agrees that it is necessary for parents in the community to learn about the dangers of drug use. Especially the dangers of vaping because it was not around when parents were in high school.

“I think it was important for parents to learn about this so they can look for it in their own kids,” Wiener said.

Not only did the presentation include the signs and the dangers of drug abuse, but the dangers in the advertisement of drugs.

“We learned some of the marketing strategies that are used to lure kids into the drug world,” Carlson said.

“I was surprised, as someone who is not a drug user, how much I knew about the drugs he was talking about, which shows how subliminally through advertising I still know so much about the drugs without seeing or using it,” Wiener said.

Tall Cop’s main goal is to educate community members so that they can make a difference with regards to more safe drug use. Education and awareness is the first critical step, because according to Tall Cop’s signature slogan: “You can’t stop what you don’t know!”