DRUGS: SCHOOL BOARD OKS USE OF SNIFF-DOG AT RIDGEFIELD HIGH

A "police presence" including both a student resource officer and
the drug-sniffing police dog will be used in Ridgefield High School,
town officials have decided.

After an executive session of the Board of Education on school
security Monday, Dec. 11, School Superintendent Kenneth Freeston
announced that the police dog would be used at the high school.

"A part of the Ridgefield High School's commitment to zero tolerance
will be utilizing a canine presence at Ridgefield High School. We
will not be commenting any further on that; to do so would reveal
the nature of investigative work that we do," he said.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi said Monday that a police officer would
probably start back in the high school in February. The student
resource officer was dropped from Ridgefield High School several
years ago due to budget constraints, but the Board of Education, the
Board of Selectmen and the Police Commission have all agreed that
the officer should start back in the school as soon as possible, he said.

"We are aggressively pursuing the reinstitution of the school
resource officer," Police Chief Richard Ligi said.

Chief Ligi said the police commission would also like to see a
student resource officer added in the middle schools next year.

The Board of Selectmen has also asked that Zeus, the police dog, be
used in the town's two middle schools.

"We have not had any public discussion on the use of the dog at the
middle schools," Dr. Freeston said Tuesday. "Should concerns develop
which lead us in that direction, we will take that action."

The increased security at the schools comes after a Ridgefield High
School senior committed suicide in what his parents called a
drug-related death. His parents have asked town officials to crack
down on alcohol and drug abuse at Ridgefield High School.