Starting next school year many schools in Pueblo will be using drug sniffing dogs. According to the administration at these schools the dogs will help keep drugs out of schools. According to a story from KOAA, the dogs have been used at South and Central high as part of a pilot program. The Pueblo Police have been conducting random searches of lockers, classrooms and parking lots. According to officials, dogs will not sniff students.
“It’s just another safety measure and I think that when students know we’re bringing dogs, hopefully they think twice about making that bad decision about bring drugs onto school campuses,” said Patrick Krumholz, Executive Director of Seconday Education for Pueblo City Schools. The dog is not a trained attack dog and will only bark to alert their handler if drugs are found.
Pueblo Schools want to use these dogs in all middle and high schools in the district. There are many schools across the nation using drug sniffing dogs and have reported positive results. However, the ACLU says that these dogs are wrong a majority of the time. They also reported that the dogs don’t solve the problem of suppliers, only kids who have a few drugs in their possession. “There is little or no evidence to support claims that these programs deter drug use, reduce drug-related crime, or increase perceptions of public safety.” They also claim that there is concern with the legality of such searches. The “Washington Supreme Court held that it is unconstitutional for public schools to search large groups of students without individualized suspicion of each person searched.”
What do you think about these dogs? Does it make you feel better to know that police are taking action in schools or does it concern you that they are so involved?
