EDUCATORS, POLICE UNITE TO FIGHT LOCAL DRUGS USE

Community Based: Initiative Seeks to Deter Usage at Elementary,
Secondary Schools

Area school boards and police agencies are joining forces to take
another crack at tackling illicit drug-use sales on school property.

"In the past when dealing with drugs in schools, we often targeted
our efforts around en-f o r c eme n t ," said Bob Davies, chief of
Sault Ste. Marie Police Services, at Wednesday's launch of the
project entitled: Action for Building A Commu n i t y That is Drug Free (ABCD).

"We believe that to make a lasting impact, especially with young
people, we need to have a plan in place that addresses education,
treatment and intervention as well as enforcement."

The educational partners are Algoma District School Board,
Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board and the area
French-Catholic board, Conseil Scolarie Catholique du Nouvel- Ontario.

The policing partners are Sault Police Services, the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police, Anishinabek Police Service and Batchewana Police Service.

It's a unique four-phase community-based initiative, says the
partnership, that will be rolled out over the coming year with a
focus to deter drug usage in the upper elementary grades as well as
secondary schools.

It's a comprehensive effort to reduce drug use in the community, said
Davies, "or at the very least disperse it away from the school environment."

A recent ADSB survey involving nearly one-third of its Grade 6
through Grade 12 student population, conducted late in the 2008-2009
school year, had 24 per cent of respondents claim they were using
drugs, mainly marijuana, on a daily basis, said Mario Turco, ADSB
director of education. "The overwhelming majority claim they have
never used drugs in their lives, but we are concerned about habits
being formed early in the lives of users and the long-lasting effects
of these adolescent choices," he said.

"Students under the influence of drugs simply do not achieve to their
maximum abilities."

ADSB expects to repeat its drug survey while Huron-Superior is in the
process of organizing a survey of its own.

Substance abuse, added Davies, leads to spinoff criminal activity,
such as robberies, break and enter, petty theft and assault. "It's no
secret there are drugs in our schools . . . It's a widespread society
problem not something restricted to Sault Ste. Marie alone," said Davies.

A priority of the ABCD will be prevention and early intervention, not
simply punishing individuals, "but to place a concentrated effort to
deter young people from engaging in drug use." School boards will
handle the educational component while police agencies will deal with
enforcement.

Student-based anti-drug campaigns, modeled after the highly
successful Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving (OSAID) will be
established, and the message will be communicated to the students, as
well as parents, through assemblies and small-group forums.

The campaign will begin with the involvement of police officers in
intelligence gathering and targeted user identification. Intelligence
gathering will be conducted through the liaison officers assigned to
every secondary school, increased monitoring of parking lots and
nearby wooded areas.

"We're not talking about an undercover operation, we won't be seeking
out (student) informants, but it will be a grassroots approach using
the resources available," said Davies.

Once the message of the initiative has been communicated, it's
expected the various policing agencies will unleash a short, intense,
enforcement campaign.

The goal in the opening phase is creating awareness and reducing the
flow of drugs entering the school system.

The bulk of the educational aspect, including the anti-drug
campaigns, will be rolled out in Phase Two while Phase Three will
include individual liaison officer enforcement, including the
possible use of surveillance cameras and the Police Services' canine
unit, as well as supports for students requiring treatment and counseling.

Phase Four, which they hope to wrap up by May, 2010, will include a
comprehensive report with an overview of successes and challenges for
future planning and decision-making.

Lake Superior State University will be engaged to determine the level
of drug problems in area schools and effectiveness of the campaign.

"We will not be targeting one specific school," said Davies, "drug
abuse is wide spread."

The ABCDs of Community Partnership

Following is the four-phase rollout of Project Action for Building a
Community That is Drug Free (ABCD), a joint partnership of key area
police and education partners designed to deter drug use in upper
elementary and secondary schools over the next year:

PHASE ONE(Education): Engage students, parents and community partners
through assemblies and small-group forums. Police agencies will
conduct intelligence gathering and targeted identification at schools
culminating in short intense enforcement effort;

PHASE TWO(Education and Engagement): Establish student-based
anti-drug campaigns modeled after Ontario Students Against Impaired
Driving (OSAID). Strengthen partnerships with parents and school
community stakeholders;

PHASE THREE(Intervention, Treatment, Deterrence, Enforcement):
Strengthen partnerships with community agencies to provide timely
support for students needing treatment and counseling and implement
Safe Schools protocols and supports.

High school liaison officers launch intensive enforcement activities
with possible surveillance camera and canine unit utilization.
Partner police agencies will conduct enforcement action, including
the laying of charges;

PHASE FOUR(Evaluation and Next Steps): Development of a comprehensive
report by May 2010 as communication tool that identifies successes
and challenges and makes recommendations for future.