Eatontown Police Officer Speaks On Podcast About Dangers Of Drugs

EATONTOWN, NJ — This week, Ryan Hennelly, a patrolman at the Eatontown Police Department, was interviewed on the podcast series “A Police Officer You Should Know with Joe Piscopo.”

Listen to their podcast interview here: https://music.amazon.com/podca...

Piscopo is a former "Saturday Night Live" comedian, actor and now a conservative radio talk show host. On his podcast show, he interviews police officers across the country on what their job is like, the dangers of their job and how they help communities.

Hennelly is the Eatontown police officer who does the L.E.A.D. program, which is a competitor with D.A.R.E. and involves police officers speaking in schools about the dangers of drugs, alcohol and violence. L.E.A.D. stands for Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence.

As part of the L.E.A.D. program, Hennelly regularly talks to sixth graders at Margaret L. Vetter Elementary School. Hennelly talks to local kids about how drugs are a dangerous substance that destroys families.

“I’ve been able to understand that the pressure from a significant other is a large reason why people get involved in drugs in the first place,” he said. “People want to be accepted and loved by their boyfriend or girlfriend, and if that person introduces them to a harmful substance, it’s likely that they’ll feel pressured to try it. We need to discuss this concept as part of the L.E.A.D. curriculum even more.”

He also travels across the country training other police officers on how to become L.E.A.D. officers.

“I’ve been blessed to travel across the country to states such as Nevada and Tennessee, to name a couple, to train police officers to teach the program in their respective areas,” he said.

Also discussed in the podcast is the L.E.A.D. Fest Carnival in Eatontown, which occurred for the second time last June and will return again in 2023.

“The week-long event has awesome food and rides, and it takes place right after we host a graduation for our L.E.A.D. students, so they get free admission,” said Patrolman Hennelly. “We greatly appreciate our partnership with L.E.A.D., and we’re excited for the carnival to come back as it’s a huge fundraiser for our program in Eatontown.”

Hennelly grew up and currently lives in Eatontown and says that he’s seen countless kids go through L.E.A.D. As he receives new batches of students each year, he often even knows the kids’ parents and siblings who also went through the program.

The police officer previously said teaching children about the dangers of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, social media, bullying and poor sexual decisions is very rewarding for him.

Prior: Eatontown 6th Graders Graduate From Anti-Drug, Alcohol Classes (June 2022)