DRUG POLICE CUFF KIDS AT KELVIN

Trustees Ask Why Arrests Turned Into Media Event

FIVE Kelvin High School students were hauled out of their classrooms
yesterday by vice police and school officials and whisked away in handcuffs
after a two-week undercover sting that caught kids openly selling marijuana
and ecstasy during school hours.

"The kids were very shocked," Kelvin principal Glen Eliasson said. "But the
fact of the matter is that Kelvin won't tolerate anyone selling drugs at
school."

Eliasson added parents and the community should also accept the fact that
drugs are part of everyday life in all city high schools.

"We're no different than any other high school," he said. "What we will do
is make it safe and comfortable for our students. We will not tolerate drugs."

But last night, Winnipeg School Division trustees said they were concerned
about the public nature of the arrests, which were caught on camera by
local television.

"Technically, they (cameras) should not be there. It's hard enough as it
is, and to have such a public display of this with the media being there I
think makes it more difficult," division chairwoman Liz Ambrose said.

In the TV footage, students, with their faces blurred, could be seen in
handcuffs as they were being taken away in police cruisers.

Trustee Mike Babinsky said he wanted to know how the arrests turned into a
media event.

"Whoever let this out, we should have a talk with these people to see why
this was made so public," he said.

Babinsky said he saw nothing wrong with students being pulled out of class
and arrested in school.

"If a kid has drugs in their lockers and that's their shop, you should go
directly to the source," he said.

"I have full confidence that the police did what they did for a reason,"
trustee Joyce Bateman said.

Eliasson said the school asked police to take action when staff, students
and some parents complained drug dealers were doing business under their noses.

Winnipeg police vice Insp. Stan Tataryn said the drug unit put an
undercover police officer into the school at 155 Kingsway to make drug
deals. Posing as a student, the officer made nine drug buys from nine
different people in the past nine days.

Around midday yesterday, police and school officials had seen enough.

Officers walked into classes and arrested five students. They were taken
out into the hallway, where they were handcuffed and informed of their
rights. Their lockers were also searched. Police were in the process
yesterday of rounding up the other four students.

The eight boys and one girl involved are between 14 and 17 years old.

Ambrose said she knew "actions would be taken" at Kelvin, but she didn't
know when the arrests would occur.

She said she assured parents there were no other sting operations under way
in other Winnipeg schools.

"This is an extreme case. This will not be the norm," Ambrose said. "I know
what's going on in our schools and I know that this is not happening in
other schools."

A Grade 12 student who would identify himself only as Ryan said he
witnessed the arrests. "The police grabbed their pens and pencils out of
their hands," he said. "Then they dragged them out of the classroom in
handcuffs. The teachers knew about it; they were all around the doors."

A parent waiting outside the school in her car said she was pleased by the
arrests. "Wonderful," she said. "I have no problem with that at all."

But student Jonathan Towers said he wasn't happy about police being in the
school.

"Now we're not going to be able to trust anyone," he said. "School has
changed now. It's never going to be the same."

Tataryn and Eliasson said that's what police and school officials want. The
arrests were planned in such a way as to drive the point home to all
students that drug dealing is illegal.

"Hopefully, other kids will take notice not to push drugs in high schools,"
Tataryn said.

Eliasson praised the professionalism of the police and said that on Monday,
all classes will set aside time to discuss what happened.

A police source said the undercover officer also attempted to buy a small
amount of crystal methamphetamine, but the operation was wrapped up before
the deal was made.

Eliasson said the school of 1,350 students makes every attempt to educate
them about drug and alcohol use, working with the Addictions Foundation of
Manitoba and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

"But some kids don't get the message," he said.

Besides criminal charges, the students also face a mandatory five-day
suspension that could be extended to five weeks.

"There was a lot of buzz in the halls," Eliasson said, describing the
atmosphere in the school. "The police got the sellers. Now the sellers have
the problem."

The arrests will be discussed at the school board's next public meeting on
Monday, said Bateman. She said trustees have asked the administration for a
full report.