SCHOOLS NEED DRUG DOGS

Your Turn.

Montana has a drug problem!

Not long ago, the federal government designated Montana as one of eight
states with a particular problem involving methamphetamines. Hardly a day
goes by without an article in the Great Falls newspaper concerning the
prosecution of Mexican smugglers, the location of new meth labs, drive-by
shootings, murders, and drug-related gang activities. Whether we want to
believe it or not, drugs are also freely available in Helena and are
readily available to our students.

While it may be too late in some parts of our country for a community to do
something about drugs, I do not believe that is the case here in Helena.

One step that we can take is to utilize the Helena Police Department's
highly trained drug dog to conduct random, unannounced searches through the
hallways and parking lots of our middle schools and high schools. This is
being done on a daily basis throughout the United States. Many Montana
school districts even contract with out-of-state companies to periodically
bring drug dogs to their schools to conduct these unannounced searches.

Our drug dog has, in fact, been used in other cities here in Montana but
has not conducted such random searches in our own local schools.

I have spoken with a number of parents, law enforcement officers, school
personnel, and others and have not heard one person say that they would
oppose the use of our drug dog to conduct random, unannounced inspections
of our schools.

I recently corresponded with Superintendent of Schools Bruce Messinger,
concerning this issue.

He responded by stating that while the issue has been discussed and a task
force has been set up to address the drug issue, the school board has legal
and privacy concerns and "public perception that must be considered with
this practice."

First, the legality of such random searches has been tested throughout our
country and has been upheld.

The federal government and many states, have specific laws mandating
increased punishment for people involved with illegal drugs within a
certain distance of our schools. This was done in order to protect our
nation's primary resource, our children. I believe that our children have
an absolute right to attend a school that is as free of drugs as possible.

Illegal drugs have no place in our schools.

I also believe that a dog walking down a school hallway or walking through
a school parking lot, or any other public area, does not violate a person's
expectation of privacy any more than does a bomb-sniffing dog walking
through an airport.

As a parent of four children, I can not understand any reasonable and
responsible parent not agreeing with this important deterrent.

I personally believe that any school board member that does not do
everything within his or her power to keep drugs off school property does
not deserve the trust that this community places in these important board
positions.

I am asking the citizens of our city to write letters or to call the
members of our school board, our school principals, our mayor, our city
commissioners, and our county commissioners to ask that they support this
very worthwhile, and extremely necessary, activity.

Our children need to know that schools are not a "safe haven" for them to
use illegal drugs.

Donald M. Whitney is president and owner of an investigations, security and
consulting business in Helena.