Pubdate: Thu, 05 Feb 2004
Source: Burlington Times-News (NC)
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Copyright: 2004 The Times-News Publishing Company
Author: Mike Wilder
Note: Staff writers Isaac Groves and Sharon Brooks Hodge contributed to
this report.
Note: This article is posted as an exception to MAP policies not to archive
minor pre-trial arrest stories, and not to alter archived articles from
what is published. In light of the novelty of these charges, in a
justified exception to our usual policies, this article is archived with
the names of the accused redacted.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
OFFICERS WORKED FOR FIVE MONTHS
A five-month undercover operation in the Alamance-Burlington Schools
resulted in the arrests of 50 high school students and nine other young
people on drug charges Wednesday morning. The operation involved officers
posing as students for the first half of the 2003-04 school year.
Sheriff's deputies and police officers taking part in "Operation Safe
Schools" arrested students as the school day began Wednesday. Schools were
locked down as deputies and officers served warrants. Students arrested
include [NAME DELETED], an Eastern Alamance basketball player who is the
state's all-time leading scorer.
The Alamance-Burlington Board of Education held an emergency meeting
beginning at 8:30 a.m. After a closed meeting of a little more than 30
minutes, Superintendent Jim Merrill announced the arrests.
Merrill requested the investigation as a result of parent surveys in recent
years that show a rising concern about drugs. Principals have also
expressed a growing concern, a school system press release said. Merrill
contacted law enforcement agencies last spring about planning the
operation, which began in August 2003 and ran through December. District
Attorney Rob Johnson reviewed the cases before the arrests were made.
School board members didn't know about the operation until Wednesday
morning, when the emergency meeting was called.
The Alamance County Sheriff's Department and the Burlington and Graham
police departments participated in the operation, using undercover
officers. Burlington Police Chief Mike Gauldin said an operation started at
the request of a school system's
leadership is highly unusual. "This is really unprecedented," he said.
Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said the initiative was needed to
battle drugs in the schools and community. The operation "sends a strong
message to every child and parent," he said.
Bonds for students ranged from $10,000 to $100,000, depending on the number
of charges and types of drugs allegedly sold. Those receiving the highest
bonds included [NAME DELETED], 16, from Southern High School, whose bond
was $100,000. A $90,000 bond was set for [NAME DELETED], 18, of Eastern
High School, and an $80,000 bond was set for [NAME DELETED], a student at
Sellars-Gunn Education Center.
Numbers the school system released early Thursday reflected a total of 49
students arrested. According to information from police later in the day,
50 students were arrested. Police reported 18 arrests were made at Cummings
High School, nine arrests at Eastern Alamance, eight arrests at Southern
Alamance, six arrests at Williams, six arrests at Graham and three at
Sellars-Gunn Education Center. The operation yielded nine arrests of
non-students, according to sheriff's office and police department reports.
There were no arrests at Western Alamance High School.
Merrill cautioned against drawing conclusions about drug problems at
different schools based on the number of arrests.
Johnson said the undercover operation at Western encountered serious
problems. "There was a leak," he said.
Merrill appeared subdued but emotional as he announced the operation and
its results. "Many students in our schools this morning have seen their
classmates led away in handcuffs - a scene which is both frightening and
sobering," Merrill said. "The students who are being arrested are
frightened and embarrassed. These charges bring shame to them, their
families and their friends."
The somber mood of the press conference carried over to the sheriff's
office and county jail in Graham. Some parents who came to the facility had
red eyes from crying and were talking about their children getting caught
up with the wrong crowd. Others were lamenting a popular culture they said
can make young people think drugs are cool.
Merrill said drug dealers, not occasional users, were the operation's
target. "Operation Safe Schools targeted only the worst offenders - those
who made the deals and sold the drugs," he said. Most of the charges
involved marijuana. But others involved cocaine, heroin or prescription
drugs. Merrill said each student arrested will face at least a long-term
suspension. Some students may be eligible for alternative education
programs on the condition that they and their parents participate in drug
treatment and counseling. Students with prior drug offenses or who are in
alternative programs because of earlier suspensions will face long-term
suspensions, he said, and may face expulsion.
Merrill and school board chairman Tom Lambeth said drugs on school campuses
reflect drugs in the community. But they also said the arrests could result
in fewer drugs in the local schools.
Deputies and officers who went undercover posed as students for months. In
some cases, they were young men and women new to local forces; in others,
they were brought in from other counties. Only school resource officers
working at local high schools knew who they were. Capt. Jeff Pritchard of
the Graham Police Department said the undercover officer who posed as a
Graham High student is a new hire who will soon be working as a patrol
officer.
Maj. Tim Flack of the Burlington Police Department said officers tried to
shy away from the dramatic in making the arrests. Instead of going to
classrooms, he said, officers stayed in one area and administrators at the
schools brought students to them. Officers were in and out at Williams and
Sellars-Gunn in about 30 minutes and at Cummings in about 40 minutes, he
said. The arrests drew national attention. Flack, for example, got a phone
call from NBC's Atlanta bureau and another call from MSNBC.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman