Lit_Match

Officials beefing up anti-drug campaign
School searches to rise in Fairfield County
11-04-06|dispatch.com|Mary Beth Lane

LANCASTER, Ohio — Rico and Arno, the drug-sniffing dogs, will be on the job more, nosing around for marijuana and other contraband in school parking lots and student lockers in Fairfield County’s eight school districts.

That was the message yesterday from county Sheriff Dave Phalen as he publicized a drugcrackdown[sic] campaign that features billboards of Arno and a deputy with the message: "Drug Dealers Beware! "

Seven of the billboards have gone up recently, and more are planned.

"We think we have to be proactive. This poster should be a warning to them. They need to understand that we are not kidding," Phalen said at a news conference, standing at a table strewn with bagged marijuana, powdered cocaine, pipes and a Glock 9 mm handgun.

The items were seized from 40 people who were charged with drug-related offenses during a sweep Oct. 27-28 along Rt. 33. The sweep coincided with the Halloween weekend festivities in Athens.

The State Highway Patrol, with help from authorities in Fairfield and Hocking counties and their drug-sniffing dogs, used aircraft, extra troopers and its own dog to make traffic stops.

Those charged might not be drug kingpins, but no matter.

"We’re not going to ignore the small stuff. All these drugs were purchased from someone," Phalen said, gesturing at the table.

Local school superintendents said they welcome more dog patrols in their parking lots and buildings. A deputy and dog usually visit three or four times a year, they said, and having the second dog will allow for more-frequent and more-extensive inspections.
[For those who don't know, this is how police dogs are trained to find marijuana and other drugs. They take what is usually psuedo drugs (a synthetic version of a drug with the same scent as the real one) and cover a tennis ball in its scent. The tennis ball, which is usually the dog's only toy, is then hidden or thrown far from the dog, the dog is then encouraged to find it and is rewarded with treats and being allowed to play with the tennis ball. Any properly trained police dog will never begin to look for it's tennis ball until the trainer/owner signals it to. This is important in this case. Unless students are being pulled from their classes and lined up, a police dog cannot effectively perform a search. Even so, if they are being pulled from their classes then parents have much to be worried about. Having a police dog present in a hallway filled with students going to their next class will result in a very low ratio of students arrested to students in possession of a controlled substance. Since the cost of a well trained police dog is several thousand dollars and the fact that they are present at schools "a few times a year" would not warrant the cost of these dogs being specially trained for searching moving kids in hallways. It is most likely their presence is merely a public display of police presence, arresting a few potheads in the process is just a bonus. In my opinion this needs to be protested by the parents of these children.]

A dog’s nose is sensitive enough to detect marijuana or other contraband from outside a parked vehicle or a locker. If it does so, the student is summoned and made to open the vehicle or locker for inspection.

"We have had some confiscations, but as much as anything, it’s a deterrent," said Jon Saxton, principal of Amanda-Clearcreek High School.

mlane@dispatch.com