Cops, K9 Unit Conduct Drug Sweep At Daniel Hand High School

MADISON, CT - Madison School Superintendent Tom Scarice is informing all about a drug sweep that has been performed at Daniel Hand High School Tuesday. Scarice said an "unannounced sweep for the detection and confiscation of any illicit drugs" was performed at 9 a.m.

Scarice didn't disclose what the sweep resulted in saying whatever was uncovered is highly confidential. Nine K9 teams from across the state participated in the sweep.

Here is what Scarice had to say in his note to the Madison school community:

In December of 2012, the Madison Public Schools (MPS) and the Madison Police Department(MPD) began an unprecedented partnership in our community in an effort to maintain the highest levels of safety and security for our children.

Over the years, under the leadership of Madison Chief of Police, Jack Drumm, and the entire Madison Public Schools administrative team, that partnership has grown and our initiatives have expanded.

Most recently, faced with rising challenges of e-cigarettes, vaping, and more inconspicuous nature of today's illicit drugs, the Madison Public Schools has established a positive working relationship with the MPD K-9 Unit.

The explicit goal of this partnership is to eliminate any and all illicit drug activity on school grounds. In prior notifications to the larger school community it was shared that the Daniel Hand High School and Polson Middle School communities have been introduced to Decker, a narcotics dog and part of the MPD K-9 team, under the supervision of Detective Neal Mulhern. Decker was gradually escorted through hallways, conducted demonstration activities in Health classes, and introduced to parents at a PTO meeting.

It was shared with the school community earlier this year that at some point prior to June 14th, an unannounced sweep for the detection and confiscation of any illicit drugs would be conducted at Daniel Hand High School with the K-9 team. Such an operation occurred today at 9:00 AM.

The operation this morning involved approximately nine K-9 teams from around the region including units from Waterford, Groton, and Vernon, among others. A fire drill was called and after the building emptied, sweeps were conducted on all floors, in classrooms, in locker bays, and in the parking lot.

Again, this operation is intended to eliminate illegal drugs on school grounds. As a result of that goal, all of the police tactics were highly visible and conducted in an expeditious manner without the fear of threat or intimidation to our students. This was an explicit goal of the operation.

For informational purposes for the entire school community, as a matter of protocol, any positive detections are followed by a search by school personnel only.

At no time this morning did an officer search a locker, a student, or their property without direction from school administration. Any follow up with individual students is handled directly by the school administration and the administration maintains the right to involve law enforcement when deemed appropriate. Any individual student information collected as a result of this operation is highly confidential.

If you have any questions about this operation, or any inquiries about our partnership with the Madison Police Department, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at
(203) 245-6320.

Thomas Scarice
Superintendent of Schools
Madison Public Schools