Police To Sweep Connetquot High School For Drugs

BOHEMIA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- In a new tool in the war on drugs in the suburbs, police dogs have begun hitting the hallways in a high school in Bohemia, Long Island.

As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, the school district has invited Suffolk County police to conduct surprise sweeps of student lockers and cars to sniff out illegal drugs at Connetquot High School.

Connetquot Central School District Supt. Lynda Adams said it has reached the point where it is necessary, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.

"You can ignore it, you can deny it, or you can face it head on," she said. "As a community, we've decided to face this head on. We want to save kids."

Adams said the wake-up call came with a student arrest in March. The student was allegedly found with 90 packets of heroin in school.

Connetquot joins a growing list of districts fortifying anti-drug strategies and inviting police sweeps.

"The District owns all lockers…within school facilities," parents are advised in a letter. "Students do not have any right or expectation of privacy within school lockers."

If drugs are found during the sweeps, students will be arrested.

"This is a serious policy that we're going to enforce," Adams said.

Police said their presence is a needed deterrent.

"This is a full-blown public safety crisis, where we have young adults overdosing on a regular basis -- and a lot of them are fatalities," said Suffolk County police Chief of Department Stuart Cameron. "It is very alarming."

The sniff operations will be unannounced and will be conducted while students remain inside classrooms.
In a community named number one for in New York state for opioid overdoses, many parents and students applauded the move.

"I think it's great," said parent Maria Brabender. "I think that drugs are just running rampant. Too many kids are dying in overdoses."

"Many students are not going to be happy about it, but I feel it's a good idea," said student Ashley Kaan, "because school is where you are supposed to feel safe."

But others said the policy goes too far.

"I get that drugs are an issue, and I'm not a fan of them. But I don't think we should be having dogs going around sniffing lockers. It's a step in the wrong direction," another student said.

Some districts remain reluctant to bring in the police for fear that a criminal record will ruin a student's life. But more and more district are changing gears, hoping the police presence will save lives.

The police sweep program did not come with any additional financial costs for the Connetquot School District.

In conjunction with the police sweeps, the district also just launched a parents' support group to deal with students' drug addictions.