DOGS WILL NOSE AROUND UPLAND SCHOOLS

District Officials Hope That Presence Of Trained Detection Animals Will
Prevent Drugs And Other Contraband From Appearing On Campuses.

A quartet of golden retrievers will make regular, unannounced visits to
Upland's junior high and high schools next school year to sniff out any
drugs and weapons brought on campus.

The Upland Unified School Board unanimously approved hiring Interquest
Detection Canines at Tuesday's meeting after a demonstration from the dogs'
main handler, Christine Hazelton of San Diego.

At the meeting, Hazelton had one of her dogs find a bag that had a gun and
bullets hidden inside.

The highly trained detective dogs' visits are meant to make students think
twice about bringing drugs, alcohol or weapons to school.

"We don't want to react after something happens; we want to be proactive,"
Upland Supt. Pete Watson said.

The dogs sniff school areas, cars, lockers and students' backpacks. They
never smell people.

Students suspected of bringing drugs or weapons are brought to the school
office, where an administrator can search their belongings. Students who
are caught are subject to expulsion from the district.

Hazelton charges $400 a day, which can include visits to two schools, she
said. The dogs will make monthly trips to Upland and Hillside high schools
and Upland and Pioneer junior high schools.

Interquest, a Houston-based company, has 86 dogs working in offices in 14
states. Five offices are in California.

Hazelton's dogs Bandit, Ruki, Conan and Kiyoti visit more than 100 schools
throughout San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial counties. Her
clients include schools in Fontana Unified School District and Central
School District in Rancho Cucamonga.

The dogs' keen noses can detect the presence of illicit drugs including
marijuana, LSD and cocaine. They also can smell alcoholic beverages and
commonly abused legal drugs, such as Valium and Ritalin, Hazelton said.

They can detect traces of gunpowder, black powder and flash powder.

Fontana Unified Chief of School Police Patrick McCurry added that he's seen
a significant decrease in illegal drugs and guns and attributes both
declines to the dogs.

"We've found no guns on campus this year," McCurry said. "When I started
here in 1997, sometimes we may have found a couple in a month."

Hazelton began working in Fontana's junior high and high schools in September.

At the start of the year, the dogs are introduced to the students in an
assembly showing their capabilities, and they are warned the dogs will make
random visits to schools throughout the year.

"I think we got as much mileage out of the assemblies as [we did from] the
dogs coming on campus," McCurry said.