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No drugs, weapons found during random sweep of Springfield High

Photos: Springfield High drug sweep

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Police officers and their canine partners from several area departments leave Springfield High School Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010 following a drug and weapons sweep of the school. The school and parking lot were locked down for two hours during the search with no access in or out.

Staff photo by Bill Lackey Police officers and their canine partners from several area departments leave Springfield High School Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010 following a drug and weapons sweep of the school. The school and parking lot were locked down for two hours during the search with no access in or out.

11 area K-9 officers conduct search during 90-minute lockdown

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By Megan Gildow, Staff writer Updated 10:02 PM Wednesday, February 24, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — School lockdowns rarely lead to good news — but that was the case when no contraband was found during a random drug sweep of Springfield High School on Wednesday, Feb. 24, according to school and law enforcement officials.

The school locked down for 90 minutes Wednesday morning, keeping students in their classrooms so they did not come in contact with drug- and weapon-sniffing police dogs searching areas with lockers or student storage, said Springfield City Schools Superintendent David Estrop.

“This shows everyone that our school is safe and our kids are doing the right thing every day,” said SHS Campus Director Chris Shaffer.

Eleven area K-9 officers — from agencies in Columbus, Dayton, Centerville and Greene County, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Ohio State Highway Patrol — joined Springfield Police Division Officer Rambo, a Belgian Malinois, and K-9 handler Officer Mike Fredendall for the search; individual dogs are trained to detect bombs, weapons or illegal narcotics such as marijuana, cocaine or ecstasy.

“This is a very common procedure throughout the state,” said Fredendall.

The dogs “indicated” on 17 lockers — meaning the dog detected a trace of the scent of a drug or weapon, according to Fredendall — but searches of the lockers revealed no contraband. Parents of those students will be notified but there will be no legal or disciplinary action.

“We have to be proactive to provide this safe environment for the students and staff,” said Moody.

None of the dogs present are able to detect prescription drugs, which as many as one in five teens admits to using, according to the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

Only two dogs in the state are trained to detect those drugs, said Fredendall, who coordinated the search along with School Resource Officer David Lyle.

“I know that the use of prescription and inhalants is increasing in popularity among some of the students,” said Estrop. “Obviously that’s a concern. We’re going to continue to look for tools that we can use to address that.”

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BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING

sdsds
10:48 AM, 2/26/2010

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Either the administration are total idiots for warning the students, or they are trying to save their own "azzes". If drugs and/or weapons had been found, the parents would have called for the administrators heads on a platter and would likely been fired or forced to resign.

Mark
10:25 AM, 2/26/2010

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Well they just proved their own stupidity. I think having a search is wonderful, as long as you don't warn the students of it before! This is Springfield! Come on! You know there are students on drugs there. Way to go Springfield Police Dept. and high school! You have successfully proven yourselves to be dumb@sses! lol

lol
10:06 PM, 2/25/2010

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When I was attending North we never had a drug sweep the whole 4 years I was there. I think that they would be suprised by some of the things people used to do on the schools campus when it came to drugs and alcohol. I agree with an earlier statement saying that they need to search the cars in the parking lot but there's no way they would be able to get that many warrants for all of those vehicles. What probable cause would they give? They're teenagers so they gotta have something in their cars?

class of 03
11:01 AM, 2/25/2010

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Hey they didn't find a G.D. thing! I bet they didn't find anyone getting a great education either.Dumbing down and total control of the people is the agenda.

L
10:37 AM, 2/25/2010

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