STRIP SEARCH STUDENTS

Declaring An 'All-Out War' On Drugs, Hancock School Superintendent Warns He May

The superintendent of Hancock County schools says he is prepared to strip
search students to find drugs, if necessary.

"They're pretty creative about how they hide their drugs," Superintendent
Mike Ladner said. "It may be in their crotch area, where we're not patting
them down . . . We're dealing with criminals here."

Ladner said he is launching an "all-out war" on drugs after a high school
student overdosed on prescription sleeping pills before the Christmas
holiday. He said he is prepared to have students stripped naked, if they
are suspected of having drugs.

He can do it, too, according to the state Attorney General's Office.

While police can't perform strip searches without probable cause to believe
they might find a weapon or drugs, school officials have to have only a
reasonable suspicion.

Jeff Klingfuss, a special assistant attorney general, said school officials
have more flexibility than police officers when conducting searches and
seizures on students.

"The main concern is to create a safe environment (at school)," Klingfuss
said. "You're trying to create an environment that's clear of drugs."

Schools and law enforcement have different standards of suspicion because
they serve different purposes, Klingfuss said. Schools are responsible for
the safety of all the children, and so must act as parents sometimes. In
the same way that parents can be concerned about their child's safety and
search them for drugs, so can a school official.

A police officer, on the other hand, has the job of enforcing the law. When
officers search a suspect, they are looking to gather evidence for prosecution.

Although any drugs that are discovered during a school search can be used
in prosecuting a child, youth courts are more likely to seek treatment for
a child, Klingfuss said.

Ladner said he would strip search a student only if he was confident the
student had drugs and there was a possibility that harm could be done,
either to that child or to others.

But Klingfuss said that, by law, it need not be an emergency for a student
to be searched by school officials because of the importance of schools
being drug-free environments.

Ladner said that before doing a strip search, he would consider the
credibility of the information source and the discipline record of the
accused student. He would also interrogate them, give them a general
pat-down, warn them about the strip search and call their parents.

But by law, parents do not have to be notified of the search, Klingfuss said.

Ladner said that he has never been involved in a strip search, and
Klingfuss said they are rare in Mississippi schools. And Ladner said that
while students' Fourth Amendment rights don't protect them from unlawful
search and seizures at school, he did not want to violate the students'
privacy unless it was absolutely necessary for student safety. Johnny
Purvis, a professor at the University of Southern Mississippi and a
sheriff's deputy, said he would approach a strip search with trepidation.

"The courts by and large frown upon any kind of strip search that happens
in the school," Purvis said. "If you were to even consider a strip search,
you would want something more than reasonable suspicion."