POLICE AND DRUG DOGS SWEEP PHS

PARKERSBURG - An impromptu lockdown at Parkersburg High School
resulted in one drug citation and kept students and teachers locked in
their rooms for about an hour Thursday afternoon.

Parkersburg High administrators accompanied seven police dogs and 21
officers as they swept about a quarter of the classrooms at the school
and a student parking lot. Teachers were told to lock classroom doors
and keep students in their classes until told otherwise.

Students in the hallways were sent to nearby offices or classrooms
until the end of the lockdown was announced.

"It is tough when you lock a school down," said Principal Ralph
Board.

"We thought it was important to send a message to students and the
community that we are trying to have the safest environment possible
here."

The sweep followed an early-morning lockdown at Williamstown High
School where police ran a simulated hostage situation. This is the
first random sweep at PHS this year, Board said.

Police searched between 21 and 25 rooms, Board said, and students in
those rooms were asked to leave their belongings in the rooms while
they waited in the hallway.

"No person was searched," Board said, and students' lockers were not
included in the police sweep.

The dogs alerted to five backpacks and two vehicles, said Board,
though a later search found no drugs in the book bags or in one of the
vehicles.

Detective Greg Collins, spokesman for the Parkersburg Police
Department, said a search of a second vehicle resulted in one adult
citation for possession of less than 15 grams of marijuana.

Details of the citations were not immediately available Thursday.

Parents were notified if their child was among those whose possessions
were tagged by the dogs, Board said. At least one parent arrived at
the school to give police permission to search a student's car. The
search found nothing.

Board said the school-wide lockdown was a precautionary measure to
protect students while the police dogs were being led through rooms
and hallways.

The sweep was not prompted by any previous incident, he said.

The police dogs and their handlers came from Athens County, Ohio,
Belpre Police Department, Marietta Police Department, Vienna Police
Department, Meigs County, Ohio, and the Parkersburg Police Department.
The Parkersburg S.W.A.T. team, Detective Bureau, Evidence Technician
and Tactical Patrol Unit helped with the sweep.