Drug Dog Recommended for RUHS

The 's Drug and Alcohol Task Force recommended Tuesday night that the Board of Education work with the to bring drug-sniffing dogs onto 's campus.

During the task force's presentation, Assistant Superintendent Frank DeSena said members had discussed the proposal for several months.

"There weren't clear opinions initially," DeSena said, noting that they spent time discussing the pros and cons of .

The task force recommended a slow approach—"not going into classrooms, not having students leave classrooms … not sniffing backpacks." Instead, the dogs would sniff lockers and common areas. Additionally, "we would use the Redondo Beach Police Department so it's at no cost to the district," DeSena said.

Kyle Bittman, a Redondo Union senior who serves on the task force, said a drug problem exists at the high school "because kids have no fear of bringing drugs into school."

The drug dogs, which would also "act as a deterrent," would make sure students "know we mean business," Bittman said. "I believe it would lead to a decrease in drug activity on campus."

Officer Ken Greenleaf, a member of Redondo's K-9 unit, showed a brief video and explained how his dog, Caden, searched for drugs.

"If [Caden] doesn't smell it, he's not going to find it," Greenleaf said. "[The dogs] work with their nose."

Additionally, he noted that the "dogs don't alert on the odor of the [marijuana smoke] … they only alert on dry marijuana and how it's made."

Still, student board member Paul Levchenko expressed reservations about the dogs' power of smell.

"A lot of the lockers aren't very secure … could that be a problem for this method where we just search the lockers?" he asked.

"It could be; that's why I think we need new lockers at Redondo High," DeSena joked. He noted, however, that both the school and the police would investigate before arresting anyone on drug charges.

"We will talk to the student that supposedly had the locker [where drugs were detected] and go from there," added Officer Lori Shimkus, the high school's resource officer.

Board member Todd Loewenstein, concerned about Fourth Amendment search and seizure issues, asked if a dog would alert to a person walking by.

"I've never seen a dog alert to people except in the airport," Greenleaf replied.

Added DeSena, "If we somehow illegally search a student, we wouldn't be busting him."

Task force members also answered questions from board members about what kinds of drugs the dogs will find, areas they would patrol, and even what would happen if someone other than a student had drugs in his or her possession.

"What's going to be the procedure if [a drug] turns out to be a teacher's?" board member Laura Emdee asked.

"Obviously, we'd pursue that," DeSena said. "We'll pursue it vigorously."

DeSena also made it clear that the task force did not see police dogs as an end-all solution to substance abuse.

"We do not think that drug-sniffing dogs are going to end drug use at Redondo High School or at Redondo Beach," he said.

Because the task force only gave a presentation with its recommendation, no decision on the issue was made Tuesday night.