DRUG DOG TO WORK IN LAWRENCE SCHOOLS

Dog Could Be Used To Check Lockers, Cars In Order To Combat Drug Use

IRONTON -- Lawrence County schools, the Lawrence County Sheriff's
Department and the county's juvenile probate court are working together to
start a K-9 unit that will be used in county schools.

"It's a drug dog," said Harold "Bucky" Shafer, superintendent of the
Lawrence County Educational Service Center. "It can be used to check
lockers. It can be used to check cars in the parking lot, whatever seems
appropriate. It's a tactic to combat drugs in the schools.

"I think it's a good, positive step," Shafer said Thursday after the
Lawrence County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of the drug
dog. The cost of the program is being shared by the sheriff's department,
the educational service center and juvenile court, he said.

Laurie Hicks, who has two children in the Dawson-Bryant School district,
likes the idea of a K-9 unit in the schools. "It might help," the Coal
Grove resident said. "I'm glad they're doing it."

Mary Kidd, an Ironton resident with a granddaughter in the Dawson-Bryant
district, thinks it's a great idea. "The lockers belong to the schools and
the taxpayers," she said. "I think it needs to be watched a lot closer."

She has seven children and used to check their rooms for drugs when they
were growing up. "If you love your children, you care for them and that's
one way to do it."

Paula Crissinger, a Coal Grove resident with two children in Dawson-Bryant
High School, said she doesn't have a problem with a drug dog on school
property. "I think it's a pretty good idea," she said. "It might stop them
from bringing it to school and giving it to other kids."

Jeff Lawless, chief deputy of the Lawrence County sheriff's department,
said several deputies have shown an interest in participating in the
program. One of them will be chosen to get an animal trained by Lynwood
Kennels in Freemont, Ohio. The animal and training cost $8,000.

"The goal is to get the drugs out of the schools," Lawless said. "The kids
don't like it and some of the parents don't like it, but the vast majority
of parents are glad we're in the schools."

State law gives principals the right to search school lockers without a
warrant, Shafer said. There are drugs in some of the schools, he said, but
it's not a major problem.

The drug dog needs to be trained and so does the deputy, Shafer said. The
training takes about six weeks. The K-9 unit could be in the schools before
the end of the school year, he said.

"We've been talking about this for some time," he said.

The sheriff's department has used a drug dog from the Ohio Highway Patrol
to make checks at schools in the Ironton, South Point and Chesapeake
districts, Lawless said.

In the past, the county has had to call on the highway patrol, the Jackson
County Sheriff's Department or the Gallipolis City Police Department for
drug dogs, he said.

"We can use the dog for traffic stops and for the Lawrence County Drug Task
Force," Lawless said. "I think it will be a real plus for the county. It's
been a real useful tool."