HUNTINGTON BEACH : Students Protest Drug-Sniffing Dogs

Several students urged the Huntington Beach Union High School District Board of Trustees this week to rescind a month-old policy that allows police dogs to sniff for drugs in lockers and cars at school campuses.

Cynthia Foster, 17, a senior at Huntington Beach High School, told trustees that the practice violates the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment prohibiting unreasonable searches.

Mike Allen, 17, another Huntington Beach student, also attacked the policy, saying that district officials failed to deal openly about the visits by the canines.

“If we don’t stand up for what we believe in, we might as well be dead,” Allen said in explaining his appearance before the trustees.

Foster and Allen attempted to organize a protest march to air their concerns at the Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night but attracted only one other student.

Foster, who said she studied the constitutionality issue in the school’s government class, expressed disappointment in the small turnout. She pointed out, however, that many students were either busy preparing for finals, working at jobs or didn’t have transportation.

Foster presented petitions with about 60 signatures protesting the searches.

Trustee Michael Simons said in an interview Wednesday that the program is going “very well” and that there are no plans to discontinue it.

“The dogs have found nothing and that’s exactly what we wanted,” he said.

When the dogs began sniffing for drugs on April 30, about 100 Huntington Beach High School students protested in front of the school and threatened to stay out of their classes. But the demonstration broke up in about 10 minutes and students returned to their classes.

The canines made an appearance on the Fountain Valley High School campus last week without incident and are scheduled to visit another high school campus this week, police said.

The goal of the program is to deter the use of drugs, not apprehend violators, officials said.