DRUG DOGS IN SCHOOLS SEEN AS AN EXTREME MEASURE BY PUNDITS

The proposal to put drug-detection dogs in Abbotsford schools on a random
basis has been attacked by a pair of provincial organizations.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the office of the Information and
Privacy Commissioner both expressed concerns about student privacy and
discomfort in letters to the school board in the middle of June.

School trustees approved the drug-detection plan in mid-May and will be
voting on it in the fall.

BCCLA president John Russell said search dogs "would create an unsettling
high-security atmosphere" among students, adding that reports say highly
accurate dog/handler teams have a correct detection rate of less than 20
per cent.

"Given the indignity of being singled out and searched before one's peers
and the potential for distress caused by drug-detection dogs, their use is
an extreme measure that must be justified by extenuating factors," he wrote.

Abbotsford school trustee and policy committee chairman Don Szostak refuted
Russell's claims of the dogs' success rate.

"The police use it as a tool," he said. "I have to assume it has some
worth. I have to guess that the dogs are pretty effective."

"Fair enough, maybe they'll be wrong sometimes," he added. "I get stopped
at road checks. . . That's kind of the way it goes. Law-abiding society
gives up freedoms for greater safety."

The letter from the privacy commissioner [David Loukidelis] said random
searches of lockers would "lead students to act on the basis that they are
constantly being watched."

Szostak, however, said only the guilty parties will feel the pressure.

"I would think the drug pushers and the users, it would affect their level
of comfort," he said.

"And I really don't care about the drug pushers. The more discomfort we
cause them the better. I want those creeps out of there."

Overall Szostak said he isn't "putting a lot of credence" in the letters.

"They do have a point of view and we may decide to address it to some
extent but. . ." he said, trailing off.

He said the official drug-detection policy will be unveiled and sent for
stakeholder input in October.

In a previous interview trustee Uultsje DeJong said the plans have already
been met with approval by fellow board members, principals, parents and
students.

"That's one of the reasons we've been so adamant about this," he said. "The
support is there . . . and it's time to tackle this problem we're facing."