Police Accidentally Leave Marijuana On Student's Car

ANDERSON, Ind. -- A teen-ager found a bag of marijuana tucked in her door
handle in the Highland High School parking lot, an accidental leftover from
an Anderson police drug search.

The bag of pot was being used to excite canine search dogs during a routine
drug check of the school's parking lot last month. An officer apparently
forgot to remove the training bag after the search.

A student found the plastic bag under her car's door handle, then turned it
over to school administrators. She went home and told her father, who
happens to be Anderson police Detective Keith Copeland.

Copeland complained to school administrators, Highland Principal Lennon
Brown said. He also complained to the Anderson police, who are
investigating the incident.

The marijuana is legally used to excite the dogs and encourage them to want
to search, Brown and Anderson Police Chief Ed Leonard said.

"A complaint was filed (with APD), and we're investigating the complaint
for quality of work," Leonard said.

The conclusions and any possible consequences from the investigation will
be known in a week or two, Leonard said.

Searches of student parking lots with canines is a standing policy with
Anderson Community Schools, Brown said. If a dog indicates there might be
drugs in a car, the student is called out of class and asked to open the
car, Brown said. The search is then conducted while the student watches.