SC schools deploy drug-sniffing dogs at a cost and with concern, but not from parents (2024)

When a drug-sniffing dog named Baro searched Eastside High School earlier this year, four grams of marijuana were found and two students were arrested, according to records obtained by The Greenville News and Independent Mail.

It’s a common sight in schools in the Upstate —police dogs in hallways and classrooms, their noses turned to the air for the smell of contraband.

“The dogs act as a great deterrent for any would-be drug users or drug sellers who might have contemplated bringing illegal drugs to school,” said Sgt. Ryan Flood of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office.

While school and law enforcement officials say the dogs help ensure a safer environment, a civil rights groupsays the searches have the opposite effect on students.

Bringing police dogs to schools “can only exacerbate an already stressful situation, leaving students terrorized and feeling unsafe in their own school,” said Susan Dunn, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina.

The overwhelming majority of Upstate parents surveyed, however, say they have no problem with thedogs.

"It helps to keep drugs out of schools, and it allows the police to be seen in schools without there necessarily being something negative going on," Williamston parent Kitty Lee said in response to a Facebook post.

Arrangements for drug searches at schools vary by school district

The use of drug dogs varies by school district, with some spending thousands of dollars per year on private contractors to conduct the searches and others relying on the local sheriff's office K-9 unit.

In Greenville County, K-9 Baro and his handler routinely conduct random "sniffs" at every middle and high school several times a year, Flood said.Sheriff's office records show Baro was deployed 113times between August 2017 and February 2019 and searched nearly 350classrooms and 11,000 lockers.

"We conduct sniffs if the principal or administration specifically requests it, if a SRO requests it and on a random basis," Flood said. "Obviously, if something comes up at a particular school, then we may have more visits than others."

Some schools are searched more than others. Wade Hampton and Eastside high schools have each been searched at least eight times since the beginning of the school year. Berea High has been searched six times, Berea Middlefive times and Carolina High twice, records show.

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In rare cases, the sheriff's office will conduct searches on school buses, Flood said.

The arrests at Eastside High in January are the only arrests made due to searches during the current school year, according to records. In the 2017-18 school year,two Berea High students were arrested after a total of 7 grams of marijuana was found during two drug different sweeps, records show.

Baro is part of the School Enforcement Unit, an investigative division of the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, said district spokeswoman Beth Brotherton. The cost of the unit is split 50-50, with the school district paying$1.2 million in fiscal year 2018 for salaries, benefits and vehicle expenses for the officers in the unit, Brotherton said. The unit includes 11 school resource officers, a K-9 handler and four other positions.

SC schools deploy drug-sniffing dogs at a cost and with concern, but not from parents (1)

In Pickens County, dog searches are instigated at the request of school administrators, said Creed Hashe, chief deputy of the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office.

Searches also occur if the sheriff’s officereceivesleads that “there may be drug activity at a particular school, and the visibility of a police K-9 might serve to dissuade future drug activity,” Hashe said.

Three Pickens County schools have been searched in the last 12 months, Hashe said. No narcotics were found at Pickens High or Liberty Middle, he said. A small amount of marijuana was found at Daniel High, though no arrests were made.

Law enforcement officials said schools are placed on partiallockdowns during drug sweeps, which typically involve an area search of classrooms,lockers, hallways, playgrounds or vehicles in parking lots.

“We never conduct searches utilizing a dog on a person or student,” Hashe said.

School districts in Greenville and Anderson have similar policies.

During a classroom search in Anderson School District 2, which covers Belton and Honea Path, students are told to leave their belongings behind and wait in the hallway while a dog is led around the room by its handler, said Carlos Brooks, human resources director for the district. An administrator stays with the handlerat all times, Brooks said.

The district uses an outside contractor for drug sweeps at the high school and its two middle schools. Each dog search costs the district $318, Brooks said.Searches are conducted 12 times a year, and the dates aren't revealed in advance, Brooks said.

The dogs are contracted to search for illicit drugs as well as over-the-counter medication, tobacco, gunpowder and firearms, according to the district.

At Belton-Honea Path High, dogs have found tobacco, vaping paraphernalia and over-the-counter medication but no narcotics, Brooks said.

Dogs have searched Anderson District 1 schools about 30 times this school year, said Superintendent Robbie Binnicker. The district includes Palmetto, Powdersville and Wren high schools and their feeder schools.

"So far this year we've had 20 alerts and11 finds," Binnicker said. "Most were marijuana related."

Kyle Newton,spokesman for Anderson District 5, which includes T.L. Hanna and Westside high schools,said no studentthere hasbeen found with drugs on school property after eight sweeps in the last two years.

The district works with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, which searches the middle and high schools at no charge.

"When K-9s are at the schools, ACSOand school officialsjust searchrandom classrooms and walk around the student parking lot," Newton said in an email.

SC schools deploy drug-sniffing dogs at a cost and with concern, but not from parents (2)

The point of the searches isn’t so much to make arrests as it is to keep students from bringing drugs into schools, said Joel Raines, the owner ofRaids Corps in Spartanburg, which has contracts with Anderson District 1 and seven other Upstate school districts. The company also provides dogs to private citizens to search for drugs.

“What we want to be more than anything else is to be a deterrent, not catch people with drugs,” Raines said.

Dogs are brought to schools about once a monthon average, he said. The most common drug that dogs find is marijuana, though Raines said he’s seeing more oil with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis,at schools as well.

“The districts we’ve been in the longest, we don’t find as much," Raines said. "The districts we haven’t been in long, we find a lot."

Anderson 1 administrators notify the student and parents whenever a search dog indicates on the student's locker or car, even if no contraband is found, Binnicker said. He said the dogs are able to detect narcotics days after a student comes into contact with drugs, so it's possible they're indicating on residual scent.

If drugs are located, administrators immediately contact the school resource officer, Binnicker said.

The district spends about $13,000 a year on dog searches, he said.

'Should law enforcement be searching schools?' Some prefer contracted help

Raines said many schools prefer to use a private contractor instead of local law enforcement to conduct drug sweeps.

“There’s the whole question of should law enforcement be searching schools and all that back and forth,” Raines said.

The issue made national headlines in 2003 when a police raid at Stratford High School in Berkeley County led to a $1.6 million class-action lawsuit settlement. About 140 Stratford students were present when Goose Creek policeofficers burst into a school hallway shouting, waving guns and forcing some students to the ground while a barking dog sniffed for weapons and drugs, according to Charleston's Post and Courier newspaper. None were found.

As part of the settlement, the Berkeley County School District and Goose Creek police agreed to change their policies for drug sweeps and restrict the use of dogs around students, the Post and Courier reported.

State law allows officials to conduct a “reasonable search” of any person who comes onto school property. School administrators can search lockers, desks, vehicles, book bags, purses and wallets “with or without probable cause.” Strip searches are prohibited under the law.

Flood, the spokesman for the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, said he doesn’t believe the searches interfere with student learning.

“Although some stuff might be perceived as intimidating or distracting, the overall goal is to offer a distraction-free, safe environment for the kids, and that’s what this measure does,” Flood said.

SC schools deploy drug-sniffing dogs at a cost and with concern, but not from parents (2024)

FAQs

Can schools bring in drug-sniffing dogs? ›

These dogs can sniff out contraband during unannounced, random searches. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, but the use of drug-sniffing dogs in schools is permitted. This is because students do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the school.

How does the 4th Amendment apply to drug-sniffing dogs? ›

A dog sniff inspection has been held as a Fourth Amendment search when a person expects the place or property being inspected to be free of governmental intrusion. For example, a dog sniff of someone's home may be considered a search.

Can you refuse a drug-sniffing dog? ›

Understanding Consent: You are not obliged to consent to searches. If an officer requests to search your vehicle or wait for a drug dog, you have the right to refuse. Asserting, “Officer, I don't consent to any searches,” is a clear expression of your rights.

Are drug-sniffing dogs probable cause? ›

If you have been charged with a drug crime, all or in part because of the evidence of a drug-sniffing dog, understand that the sniff can be probable cause – which, in turn, might have turned up the evidence of your alleged offense.

Can school drug dogs smell edibles? ›

Can drug dogs smell edibles? Yes, they can smell illegal drugs, whether they are in plastic containers or baked into food. They won't get distracted by the scent of food, and they are capable of singling out a wide range of substances.

Do you have to wait for a drug-sniffing dog? ›

United States: Unless police have “reasonable suspicion” of a crime, it is an unconstitutional seizure for them to extend a legal traffic stop in order to conduct a dog sniff.

What counts as reasonable suspicion? ›

Reasonable suspicion means that the officer can explain why a crime has likely occurred, and point to reasons for that conclusion. For a detention to be valid, those reasons must be convincing to another person looking at the facts and conclusions at a later time.

What is the case law for K9 sniffs? ›

In the landmark case of United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696 (1983), the Supreme Court held that a brief detention of an individual's luggage for the purpose of conducting a K-9 sniff does not violate the Fourth Amendment, as long as the detention is reasonable in duration.

Did the Supreme Court decision in 2013 upheld canine sniffs during a vehicle stop? ›

In a 6-2 decision published Jan. 24, the Supreme Court ruled that a dog sniff conducted during a lawful traffic stop that reveals no information other than the location of an unlawful substance does not violate the Fourth Amendment.

Can drug dogs smell through smell proof? ›

The expert told me that odor proof bags in a controlled setting do work and that he has tested them himself. Unfortunately, the argument that the dog could not identify narcotics behind odor proof bags seldom wins.

What to do if a sniffer dog stops you? ›

You should comply with the police request, but you need not consent to the request. If you do not consent to being searched, you should clearly state your objection to the police and request that your objection be noted.

Under what circ*mstances may police bring a drug detection dog to the scene of a traffic stop to perform a sniff? ›

Police can conduct a dog sniff around your vehicle during a traffic stop if they have reasonable suspicion of drug-related activity, typically without requiring your permission.

What is the error rate for drug dogs? ›

Those results, they say, are surprisingly consistent – in 2010, the false alert rate was 74%. Further still, the study found that individual dog's performance varied wildly, with accuracy rates ranging from a high of 56% to a low of 7%, with two-thirds of the dogs performing below the average.

Do drug sniffing dogs bark? ›

Identifying drugs with canine patrols

This indication can be given in several ways, depending on the type of training. Passive indications occur when the dog is trained to sit or stand when they detect drugs. Aggressive indications include digging, pawing or barking at the location.

What happens when a dog is exposed to drugs? ›

The most common signs of poisoning are depression, lack of coordination, slow heart rate, dangerously low body temperature, vocalization, excessive drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, inability to control urination, seizures, and coma.

Can drug dogs smell vapes at school? ›

Yes, but not all drug dogs are trained to detect it.

Some agencies (especially those hired by schools) train their dogs to sniff out nicotine, while others don't. Some agencies have dogs that are trained to sniff out tobacco products (including synthetic tobacco), but this isn't necessarily the case for all dogs.

Can sniffer dogs tell if you have taken drugs? ›

Whilst most sniffer dogs are trained to detect hard drugs, like cocaine, heroin and ecstasy, they also have the ability to detect lower-class drugs and pills. The list of substances that dogs can detect is always increasing in size.

Can sniffer dogs smell drugs in smell proof bags? ›

The expert told me that odor proof bags in a controlled setting do work and that he has tested them himself. Unfortunately, the argument that the dog could not identify narcotics behind odor proof bags seldom wins.

Can school drug dogs smell alcohol? ›

Can drug dogs smell alcohol? With focused efforts and training, dogs can learn to identify and alert their handler to alcohol or individuals who have consumed alcohol. However, it isn't a common practice and may not prove as useful as narcotic and explosive detection.

References

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