POLICE DOGS DETECT DRUGS STUDENTS' CARS AT HCHS

WARNER ROBINS - Police dogs detected drugs in more than 25 student
vehicles in the Houston County High School parking lot Wednesday
afternoon, according to the police.

But the school principal would not let police officers search for the
alleged drugs. No drugs were found, school officials said.

James Kinchen, executive director for secondary operations in the
Houston County school system, said it is up to the principal to
determine who searches vehicles in which police dogs detect drugs.
Either the principal or someone the principal designates can look
through suspicious vehicles.

In the case of Wednesday's search, Kinchen said HCHS' school resource
officer Sgt. Porter Wood participated in about four of the searches
at the principal's request. Kinchen did not know whether the other
student vehicles the dogs "hit" on were searched.

Warner Robins Police Chief Dan Hart said dogs searched lockers inside
the school and all the vehicles in the student parking lot. Faculty
and staff vehicles were not searched, the chief said.

A pellet gun, a pocketknife, a box cutter, tobacco and a lighter were
discovered in some of the students' vehicles.

According to a written statement provided by Beth Burris, the school
district's director of community and school affairs, the system plans
to conduct random drug searches on a monthly basis. The purpose of
the searches is to find violators of school policy. Burris indicated
parents are notified if students are found to have violated policy.

Kinchen stopped short of saying students were disciplined for items
found during the search.

"If it's a weapon (found in a vehicle), we treat it like a weapons
violation," Kinchen said.

He said he didn't know why Houston County High Principal Mike Hall
didn't allow police to search the vehicles.

"I can't prove the police would've found anything the administration
wouldn't have found," Kinchen said.

Hall was unavailable for comment Thursday night.

Officers with the Warner Robins Police Department and the Georgia
Department of Corrections brought seven drug-sniffing dogs to the
school Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to crack down on
drugs. Once the dogs sniffed all of the lockers inside the school and
the vehicles in the student parking lot, school officials asked if
they could search the vehicles instead of the officers, Hart said.

"It was basically a communication problem with the school officials,"
the chief said. "There was a misunderstanding on how the searches are
to be conducted."

Hart said the officers had probable cause to search the vehicles once
the dogs suspected drugs were inside. He said they did not search in
an effort to cooperate with the school system.

"We try to work with school officials as much as possible," Hart
said. He said police officers should always be the ones to search the
vehicles because they are trained in proper procedure for searching a
vehicle for drugs.

Kinchen said if something suspicious is found in a vehicle, it is
placed inside a lined envelope. In her letter, Burris indicated no
special training is needed or given to conduct a search. However, the
person who conducts the search keeps safety in mind and have the
police available for assistance.

It is school policy to notify the police and turn the items over if
drugs are found.

Hart said the department would continue to conduct drug sweeps at the
schools but expects officers to be more involved in any searches. He
said officers searched vehicles in a similar search recently at
Warner Robins High School and netted two arrests.

Warner Robins Police Sgt. Scott Webb, who coordinated the search
effort, said having the dogs brought in and then not being able to
search for the weapons made for a frustrating day.

Without searching the vehicles themselves, the dog handlers did not
know if their animals had a successful "hit" or not.

"You don't know if your dog hit on something or not because you
cannot search the vehicle," Webb said. "It just made for a long day."