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Drug Dogs To Be Used Daily In Escambia Schools
August 19, 2010
The Escambia County School Board has approved the daily use of drug dogs in the county’s schools.
Each day, at least one middle or high school in the county will be randomly visited by a canine officer and his dog. Only one person at the district office, Manager of Protection Services Steven Sharp, will know which school will be visited in advance. The canine officer will report to the principal’s office upon his or her arrival and will be accompanied during the search by an administrator.
The district will spend $36,000 from its general fund over the course of a year for the program. Two dozen off-duty canine officers from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Pensacola Police Department will be utilized for the searches.
Students will not be searched, and they will be removed from any classroom that is searched. Searches will also include hallways, lockers, parking lots and other common locations.
The plan was passed by the school board 4-0, with Linda Moultrie, an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office employee, abstaining.
Comments
26 Responses to “Drug Dogs To Be Used Daily In Escambia Schools”
REGARDING:
” lack of control law enforcement seems to have on these dogs ”
Drug dogs don’t get angry at the scent of drugs. They are trained to sniff them by having the drugs in a tennis ball they play with. Thus they associate drugs with happy play time.
Just to be safe, though, those in doubt might consider not having any.
David with sister-in-law
who used to train them
in Hinton, West Virginia
My biggest concern with this is the recent attacks and lack of control law enforcement seems to have on these dogs . I hope they plan on keeping them on a leash.
using the dogs is a good idea, it takes away the argument for racial profiling.
the dogs don’t look at color, they sniff for drugs. if your child doesn’t have any thats good, if they do you need to know so that they can be helped before it’s to late.
Wow! All I can say is THANK GOD I FLED ESCAMBIA COUNTY !!!
That 36,000 would have at least cut my school material list this year a little. We had to make three trips back to the car just to get everything in we were told we had to buy. Where does all that lottery and tax money go???
Once again, with emphasis – NO DRUGS IN OUR SCHOOLS.
It’s not just Right, it’s the LAW. It applies to everyone in school or on school grounds.
Hope the School Board approves random drug testing too – for everyone in school (Admin and Teachers too)
The problem is all of society is exposed to drugs, both good and bad. Alcohol, tobacco and even over the counter drugs are in everyday life. Children should be taught what is good and bad and how to respect them when appropriate. Demonizing certain drugs, such as pot, when tobacco kills far more people is part of the problem.
I’m not advocating selling or allowing drugs in schools, but think society, parents and schools should approach the subject with far more honesty and intelligence than we currently exhibit. I wouldn’t even allow sodas in school if it was left to me for health reasons.
It’s tough enough to teach our children in today’s society, drugs don’t need to be in that mix.
Illegal drugs in our schools is a detriment to our children, and the presence of drugs in schools is a cancer to our society.
It is not a “right” or a privilege. It is not hypocritical to say that drugs should not be in the hands of children. It is not hypocritical to say that drug possession is against the law – it IS against the LAW.
They should run those K-9s through more often than they already have planned. Our community doesn’t need its children exposed to drugs (by anyone) in an institution of Education.
I think this is great! The sooner we teach the kids that they have no rights and that the United States is a police state and not a democracy the better. If they want to be free they need to move elsewhere. Kids need to understand that in this country people love to stand on the sidelines and cheer their fellow Americans getting persecuted and locked up for pursuing their own happiness and treating their own medical ailments, and for simply using bad judgement. There is no forgiveness in our society. That’s just for church on Sunday’s.
I think soon our children will understand what a lie democracy and freedom is and what cruel, hateful hypocrites our citizens have become. Now that is an education they can use.
Wow, this is the second piece on increased measures over drugs in the schools. Is drug use up in the schools?
It is a shame that our schools will look more like juvenile detention centers in lieu of a facility of higher education. Unfortunately, the biggest measure we could take as a society to kill the illegal drug trade and the criminal activity associated with it is to legalize the more mundane drugs. The harder we try to enforce a drug law, especially on pot, which is the one with the highest arrest numbers, the higher the violent crime rate will go up. Prohibition should have taught us this lesson but we are short sighted and like to try to legislate morality, when we should be focusing on the basic laws and sound educational needs of society. But then again we’ve seen in recent times a willingness of citizens to throw their rights out the window for some sense of security or false sense of safety, and these measures in the school system are just superficial measures to make people feel good.
A good read on our drug problems and the issues it creates:
The Cult of Pharmacology: How American Became the World’s Most Troubled Drug Culture, by Richard DeGrandpre
http://www.amazon.com/Cult-Pharmacology-America-Troubled-Culture/dp/0822338815
and regarding the criminal aspects and our laws:
Drug War Crimes by Jeffrey A. Miron
http://www.amazon.com/Drug-War-Crimes-Consequences-Prohibition/dp/0945999909/ref=pd_sim_b_3
Fantastic idea…. sad statement about society.
Schools wouldn’t have to be on such tight security if the general society wasn’t going to Hades in a hatbox. When teens have enough sense to not drink and drive (oops) , run from / threaten deputies with guns (oops)… THEN I would agree it was too much. But with kids shooting kids over shoes, drugs and other kids I think there should be a dog in every school every day.
This is a very good thing!
I think this is a great thing. They should include the teachers/staff/adminstration also. Screw the teachers union.
This is a real step forward to get drugs out of the schools and away from the kids.
Hope they run the dogs through the parking lot too…in case the users/dealers think they can out fox the K-9s.
this is a good thing! This could make a huge difference in a childs life. This will deter any child that has comtemplated trying drugs hopefully.
NHS needs to be first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The difference between schools and prisons is becoming much thinner
i think that this new avenue of keeping drugs out of our public schools is FANTASTIC!…i dont have children in public schools, as they are all adults.. however, i absolutely would NOT have objected to using drug sniffing dogs to have better kept that crap out of the schools, back then…..i think that it will also prove to be a great deterrent!..now, for those who think that the drug situation (in schools) should be better left to the sole discretion of the parents to monitor and educate…GET A REALITY CHECK!…for many kids, peer pressure, immaturity, poor judgement, lack of parental supervision, the internet, MTV, etc, etc…have proven to be a greater influence in their decision making, than what the parents can offer…in addition, im am relatively sure that the kids who DONT choose to associate with drugs or drug activity (at school) are relieved that there will be one less element of distraction going on while they are trying to get their education…this is an excellent source of tax payer dollars at work….it would be great if the ECSO cannine unit could increase the random visits..maybe next year!!
Probably has something to do with this report:
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/education/shocking-school-drug-and-gang-survey-20100819-lgf
oh wow I sure should a proofed that. lol
K/////
Your right parents should be policeing their children at home and
instealing good values.
BUT TO MANY ARE NOT.
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF DRUGS AND GANGS
It’s not just tobacco and alcohol they worry about anymore
It’s stolen presciption pills, crack, cocaine, mary jane, and meth.
If you think your kids are safe you need to think again.
I cannot believe that children will be subjected to these “random” visits. This is not what we send our children to school to do. Families should be “policing” their children not the sheriff’s dept. Wouldn’t the $36,000 be better spent on education?
I find this deplorable…the new “report on your friends program” they will be initiating, etc.
This is not an educational environment it is a police state in the schools. No wonder the local school districts have such a terrible educational record. More time is spent on reporting children to the “resource” officer than trying to educate.
Parents and family members are not doing their jobs at home. The school and state are not their parents.
There have always been mind altering substances(this includes alcohol and tobacco for those of you that don’t consider these drugs) in schools. It is up to each child to have the background and knowledge from their families to make a decision. There will be those who will succumb and those who won’t. Addictive personality is the issue and the problem not the substances. Anyone who smokes knows how much they want the drug in the cigarette.
This is a giant step backwards…
just my opinion
To heck with the racism and profiling.
If they get the cameras (and their fools if they don’t ) a picture
is worth a thousand words.
I have never understood this profiling crap anyway.
If your looking for a white kid 15 years old
You wouldn’t be looking for a black kid 10 years old or the other
way around. So how in the world is it profiling, that’s the whole
purpose of a description.
It;s a giant step in the right direction
It’s not the end all be all.
Everything starts in the home and for most kids thats the biggest problem
area of their life these days, it just continues when they get to school.
There is a lot of stress with kids these day if their good kids.
It’s been if your not with them your against them for a long time now
with the gang kids.
It’s time parents and administrators take back their schools and
neighborhoods.
If there isn’t even more done some of you who know this is the right
direction to go in this year 2010 and nothing more is getting done.
Why don’t you demand more and go the school yourselves and
talk to your neighbors and get them demanding more help with
the drugs, guns and crime for the little thugs who threaten your
childrens safety and peace of mind on a daily basis at school to say nothing
of their education.
AMEN!!!! This is much needed!!!
It’s sad that it has come down to this but it is needed! Now, how do we search and find the weapons that are taken into the schools? When that happens, maybe the schools can get down to the business of teaching!!!!
Wonder how long it will take before cries of racism and profiling start to fly? Usually the guilty are the first. to jump on the bandwagon.