Not finding any drugs is either great news or its results are meaningless. If its results are meaningless, then why are we doing it?

(I just had an idea- what about training ferrets to sniff drugs? They are cute and not as threatening as a large dog. And the old saying would fit.)

Maybe I am too optimistic, but I do not think we give students enough credit. I do not think students who are not carrying drugs would see it as a threat, only those who are. No, it will not solve the problem of drug use, but the more places we can make it not an option the better.

But with buildings of 1,000 students or more (is it 1,300 at NHS?), ‘crowd control’ tactics like drug-sniffing dogs are sometimes warranted no matter how much trust and adult-student communication there is. So I agree with you, Bruce.

Would ARTech use drug-sniffing dogs, I wonder?

And the result of that? now the school, in what appears to be a very much self-protective mode is saying, whew! one problem taken care of; our campus isn’t as bad as everyone thought. And that is ( IMNSHO, to quote you, Bruce ) a very specious conclusion, which does zero to move toward any solutions.

They are kids, for crying in the beer, they may have first-hand knowledge of the use, but they need some adults helping out. Unfortunately for them, the adults who do want to help need help themselves in figuring out HOW to get the point across. In the meantime, dogs in the school are a typical and possibly reasonable stop-gap measure, even if all it does is send a message that we are worried about this whole mess. Just because no drugs were found does not mean that the search was ineffective. See my post http://soleil.nfldinet.com/web/brucem/simcash/icotpeople/Bloggers/wordpress/?p=342 for more on that story.

Kiffe, you call the youth of this town the “specialists” in this area. Do you mean that they have the answers to these problems? Or are they specialists in knowing about what’s going on with their peers? Just wondering what you mean here. I would hope they are aware of what is going on in their classes and groups. What do you see as an effective way to encourage interaction between them and their parents to get this information out? Can this be done on a group basis or is it better to engage them on an individual basis, or is there need for both? Is this something that needs to be done within families or is it better in a “neutral” atmosphere (such as a class or a setting like the Key or church youth groups)? Somehow, there needs to be a connection between the youth and their parents. Right now, I feel that there are two camps sniping at each other, but then, isn’t this the way it has always been? The stakes are just higher now- literally life and death. And I will go back to my earlier statement- life is not a Disney movie with super smart and mature kids and bumbling adult idiots.

But if you do have sworn officers facilitating the drug trade, and drugs and cash disappearing (perhaps into their pockets), no matter how many counselors you hire at the high school, things aren’t going to get better.

Scott, one of my twenty-something kids told us a story this weekend about a ‘friend’ who told him they had an experience like this within the past two years with a Northfield police officer, ie, getting busted in a car with a large amount of cash and pot and allowed to go free, minus the cash. The individual is no longer living in MN but I might still be able to contact them in an attempt to confirm its veracity.

News from the N News

Excerpted from the News’ Web site 10/11/07

Drug dogs search high school

press release from District Superintendent Chris Richardson.

NORTHFIELD - A search of the high school by drug dogs Wednesday night revealed little or nothing

Searching more than 1,200 lockers as well as PE lockers in use, the dog alerted on a physical education locker. A search of that locker by hand found no drugs.

School officials will follow up with the student who uses the locker.

Yes, that post about the cops and the local business is still up - #39 in the main heroin thread:
http://locallygrownnorthfield.org/archives/1655/#comment-19647

Maybe you and I should have coffee soon to talk more about this?

Some interesting posts are starting to come in on the Gary Smith interview thread. There are a lot of people in town who know a little bit, and there are probably a few people out there who know a lot. As a clearer picture emerges of what’s been going on in Northfield for the past 3 years or so, I expect we’ll be hearing from more of them. Nobody wants to be the first to start talking, but you sure wouldn’t want to be the last one, either! We can at least hope that the “Don’t snitch” mentality that prevails, especially among Northfield’s finest, will soon be replaced with a desire to “Do the right thing.”

Keep in mind that this is all speculation at this point. But if you do have sworn officers facilitating the drug trade, and drugs and cash disappearing (perhaps into their pockets), no matter how many counselors you hire at the high school, things aren’t going to get better.

Also, to answer your question more directly, it matters a lot. If crimes were committed, they’re not yet history. There’s still plenty of time to prosecute. The way things stand now, probably every kid in town knows that the local cops–the guys that treat them like criminals for skating in Bridge Square or staying out 15 minutes past midnight–will stop at nothing to protect their own. If just one would come forward, it would send a strong positive message that at least some people in law enforcement are more committed to abstract principles of justice than to the doctrine of might makes right.

If you want to know the source of the “packet” leak to Suzzanne Rook… and whether it’s legal or not, I’d suggest three steps:

1) Officially ask your Council person the question of legality, suggesting that it seems reasonable that someone connected with that packet (staff who prepared it - Council who received it) had the only likely hand in the transaction, therefore, the answer, like the “perp” must sit on the dais.

1.a) Perhaps the League of Women voters, who may have more status in affairs of this nature than any one individual, could ask this on behalf of the Community. I’m reasonably confident League Board members monitor this blog. I also have a sense that LWV has met “in camera” with top officials recently in pursuit of fact disclosure of this nature.

2) Then, assuming the entity asking the question, finds there is a legal issue in transporting the information in question, also ask if the paper is restricted in their use of “illegally obtained information. Seems this, (#2) is a question Council members could ask of the City Attorney. They have a right to know… a need to know.

3) The legal issue now established, next ask Rook’s superiors to respond to suggestions they (the Nfld News) has been involved in an illegal use of “confidential” information.

If the answers to these seem to support the conclusion: “improprieties have been going on”… what then?

NOTE: Since it appears the Mayor, being the most likely to benefit from exposing the manner in which these packet notes penetrated the News system… It might make good sense to ask him to pursue this information on behalf of beleaguered citizens. (He’ll understand beleaguered)

While other Council members might NOT want “His Honor” to “get involved” they can hardly rebuke him for responding to a citizen’s direct request. Or, for successful recognition of concerns, do requests need to be associated with rental properties, sidewalks, speed limits and the such?

I assure you, if I had any official status, I’d lead the questioning.