SOME QUESTION, SOME SUPPORT CANINE PROGRAM

MURRIETA ---- Nearly a month after the Murrieta school district
announced a decision to allow dogs to search campuses for illicit
drugs, its officials are still working to get students to understand
and feel comfortable with the program.

Some students do. Others don't.

Two assemblies Friday morning in Murrieta Valley High School's gym
capped off similar events conducted throughout the week at the
district's other middle and high schools, during which students
learned about and were shown a demonstration of how the program works.

The searches are expected to begin next month, said Murrieta Valley
Unified School District spokeswoman Karen Parris, but she declined to
be more specific.

As students filtered out of the second assembly Friday morning, one
young man yelled out "Smoke pot every day!" Some students laughed and
waved it off, saying they support the program.

"I think it's cool," said junior Philip Vargas, 16. "It'll stop a lot
of drug use at school."

Junior Sean Byrne, 17, said sometimes the smell of marijuana lingers
in the air in bathrooms.

"This will get a lot of kids who do that to leave our school," he said.

But some students said they are upset officials OK'd the program.

"I am not happy it's here," said sophomore Steven Grisham, 15. "Why
should they have to bring drug dogs to school?"

Some students at Creekside High School, the district's continuation
high school, are also unhappy about the program.

"They are taking over the schools now, you don't get any bit of
privacy anymore," said senior Brett Bruesch, 18. "Schools don't feel
safe anymore. Next thing you know, they'll have snipers on the roof."

Murrieta Valley High School's student newspaper, The Talon, also
quoted several students this month in an article about the program
calling it an invasion of privacy, "over the top" and something that
will create more drama at the campus.

Regardless of how students feel about the program, it's here to stay,
officials said.

Murrieta police Officer Dave Baca, one of the department's liaisons
with the district, said Friday that the program hasn't even started
and it's already having a positive effect.

Before the announcement that the dogs were being brought in, Baca
said he would hear reports of the smell of marijuana smoke in
bathrooms a few times a week and arrested students for drug
possession several times each month. Now, that has greatly diminished.

"We haven't had any reports of smoking in bathrooms or arrested
anyone for possession of marijuana in a month," Baca said. "I'm glad
it's here."

Interim Director of Student Support Lorie Coleman said 99 percent of
the calls she has received from parents have been in support of the program.

Murrieta officials are joining several other local school districts
- including Temecula Valley Unified and Perris Union High School
- ---- in allowing searches to take place on campuses.

The dogs sniff the air around lockers, backpacks, desks, vehicles, in
bathrooms and near other objects ---- not students. If illegal items
are detected and found, the student could be arrested and possibly
suspended for up to five days, Murrieta school officials said.

The dogs can smell illicit drugs, prescription pills, alcohol and
gunpowder, and often can also smell tobacco, fireworks, knives and
items used for graffiti, Christine Hazelton, president of Interquest
Detection Canines of San Diego, told students during the assembly.

"This dog is not here to catch and bust people," she said. "This dog
is here to provide a safe environment." Searches are random and
unannounced, she added. "Sometimes it's when school starts. Sometimes
it's in the afternoon."

Hazelton talked to the students about the program for about 15
minutes, then showed them how the dogs can sniff out items they are
trained to detect and simply sit down next to them.

"If you are asked to join us, that doesn't mean you are in trouble,"
she said. "We'll ask you to come back to the office. If there's
nothing in (your possession), that's it, you're done. ... If you are
reeking of marijuana, I am fairly certain Officer Baca is going to
want to have a discussion with you."

During a question-and-answer session, one student asked if teachers'
desks would be searched. Hazelton said no. Another student asked
where it's safe to hide drugs when the dog visits.

"Somewhere other than this campus," she replied.