Pubdate: Sat, 19 Mar 2005
Source: Beaufort Gazette, The (SC)
Copyright: 2005 The Beaufort Gazette
Contact:  http://www.beaufortgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1806
Author: Diane Knich
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

POLICE SEARCH HIGH SCHOOL FOR DRUGS

Random Inspection Reveals Remnants Of Marijuana

An unannounced search Friday didn't uncover any drugs inside
Bluffton High School, but police dogs detected remnants of marijuana
in a student's car in the parking lot, Principal Aretha Rhone-Bush said.

The drug search was conducted by the Beaufort County Sheriff's
Office's K-9 Unit and the Bluffton Police Department, and it was the
first in what Rhone-Bush said will be ongoing random inspections at
the school.

The searches are part of the principal's overall plan to eliminate
illegal activity from the school and increase security measures.

After searching the building without finding any drugs, law
enforcement officers took the dogs to the parking lot, where they
sniffed around cars.

Bluffton Police Detective Pat Blankenship said a dog found "remnants
of marijuana" in a student's car. The police charged the teenager with
simple possession of marijuana, and the student was given a courtesy
summons to appear in court.

Rhone-Bush said she contacted the student's parents.

There was another car that a dog "hit" on, she said, but the police
found nothing in it. She said she also contacted the parents of that
student because drugs could have been in that car recently.

Both parents responded well to the calls and were very supportive of
the school, she said.

Rhone-Bush said she asked the Sheriff's Office about two weeks ago to
conduct a drug search. But nobody at the school, not even Rhone-Bush,
knew when it would happen.

It started at 8 a.m. Friday when the drug-sniffing dogs and multiple
law enforcement officers arrived at the school, which was then "locked
down" until about 10 a.m. Students had to remain in their classrooms
as the dogs sniffed the hallways and lockers for drugs. No drugs were
found inside.

Then, one class at a time, students were asked to step out of their
classrooms and leave their book bags and purses behind, Rhone-Bush
said. A dog, an officer, a school administrator and a staff person
then entered the classroom as the dog sniffed for drugs, she said.

When the dog sniffed out an item of interest, the bag or purse and the
student were sent to Rhone-Bush, who searched it.

The dogs had 12 hits in the school, none of them for drugs.

"Dogs are dogs," Rhone-Bush said, and they are attracted to many
different scents. The canine investigators turned up lunches, rotten
bananas, fashion magazines with scented inserts and some Pop Tarts,
she said.
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MAP posted-by: Derek