POLICE CHIEF: DRUG-SNIFFING DOGS OK ONLY IN RARE CASES

LOUISVILLE - Police Chief Bruce Goodman said Thursday that he is
unsure whether he will support Monarch High School parents who want
to use drug-sniffing dogs to search school lockers.

Goodman said his support depends on what types of searches the
parents are pushing for, and that there are some situations in which
a dog can be used as a "good tool," and there are other times when
the use of a dog is "wholly inappropriate."

He said in most cases he would require his officers to first have a
"reasonable suspicion" before conducting a search, a standard lower
than "probable cause."

Reasonable suspicion requires a mere suspicion that there may be
evidence in a specific location. Probable cause is a reasonable
belief that there is evidence of a crime in the location to be
searched.

"Just to use the dogs frequently for random locker searches is
inappropriate in this environment," Goodman said. "To use the dogs
infrequently when we have specific information or strong suspicions,
I believe the dog is appropriate."

Goodman also said he supports a rare, random search of the school,
because students would not know when a search would take place.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Mark Silverstein said police
have a responsibility to follow the Fourth Amendment, which provides
protection against unreasonable search and seizures. "If police are
coming into the school to enforce the criminal law, then they should
have to comply with the normal standards of probable cause," he said.

Silverstein said that sometimes school authorities can conduct a
search on the basis of the lower standard of reasonable suspicion,
but that it is only when school officials are acting to preserve the
educational environment.

"The courts have not approved school searches on that lower standard
of reasonable suspicion for the purpose of enforcing the criminal law
and turning people over to police," he said.

Claudia Kessack, a parent who supports the use of drug-detecting
dogs, said she thinks that random searches are more effective because
if students knew a search were possible, they probably would be less
likely to bring drugs to school.

Louisville police do not have a drug-detecting dog and have no plans
to acquire one, Goodman said. However, dogs from other agencies can
be brought in if requested, he said.

Goodman said he thinks drug-detecting dogs have the ability to sniff
out designer drugs such as ecstasy if they are trained properly.

Boulder police have a policy that states "suspicionless random
sweeps" of the school during dog searches of schools can only occur
if the police chief or superintendent of schools agrees. The searches
are limited to inanimate objects, meaning students themselves cannot
be targets of drug searches.

Chief Goodman and Boulder Deputy Police Chief Jim Hughes both said
they could not remember a time when a drug-detecting dog was used to
search school lockers.