Most Students Back Dog Drug Searches

Four months and six searches after Simi Valley school trustees voted to allow police dogs to sniff-search school lockers for drugs, two-thirds of a random sample of Simi Valley students say they don’t mind the snooping.

About 570 out of 850 students surveyed by district staff said they believe the pilot program should continue next year.

After listening to the results of the survey Tuesday night, trustees said they favor extending the pilot program for another year.

“I did not support this,” said trustee Debbie Sandland. “But seeing the feedback makes me feel a lot better. It has not been nearly as disruptive as I thought.”

The Simi Valley Unified School District board approved the searches in March over the objections of some students, who called it an authoritarian tactic.

Chief among trustees’ concerns at the time was that the dogs would disturb classes and distract students.

But about 70% of the students said they never actually saw the dogs searching the lockers.

So far, police dogs from several Ventura County law enforcement agencies have conducted half a dozen searches, one for each district junior high and high school. Drugs were found only once in the backpack of a Royal High School student, who was disciplined.

If formally approved as a permanent program next month, the impromptu searches will continue next year. Some parents have recommended that all the schools’ lockers be searched before school starts to ensure that no one could have planted drugs in lockers over the summer.

Interim Supt. Robert Purvis said continuing the searches is a good idea.

“Students appreciate being in a good environment and I don’t think they want to see drugs and weapons on campus,” he said. “Using the canines is an effort on the part of the board to provide a safe and secure environment for students.”