A POLICE dog unit scanned pupils as young as 11 at the gates of a secondary school yesterday in a drug awareness operation.
Several officers were stationed at the entrance to Kingsdown School in Stratton St Margaret, while a passive drugs dog searched students.
Patch, one of only two passive drugs dogs in Wiltshire, and handler Steve Duffy patrolled outside the school grounds and known gathering sites.
Passive drugs dogs are trained to sniff and sit when they pick up the scent of drugs rather than bark.
No arrests or seizures were made during the operation, which ran between 8.30am and 9am – as the children walked into school.
Headteacher Wendy Conaghan said the school was working closely with the local police to help educate pupils about the dangers of drugs.
She said: “Kingsdown does not have a problem with drugs and this is an extension of the work the police are already doing at the school.
“Prevention is better than the cure.
“It’s all about educating the students – we cannot make choices for them but we can do as much as we can to make sure those choices are the most informed they can be.
“They already have PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) and citizenship lessons and they all get drug and alcohol advice.”
Upper Stratton community beat manager PC Frank Key said the result was a positive one for the school.
He said: “In this case action can speak louder than words and for students to see the dog out there and the officers makes the point more clearly.
“It also shows to the parents that the school and the police are taking the welfare of their children seriously.”
“From our point of view the school gives us the best age range of youngsters to get the message out to.
“It’s great that the school can assist us in taking the lead in promoting the educational message – and the operation has been to reinforce it to students.”
Back in 2003, Peter Wells, the then-head of St Joseph’s School, invited police to search his school with a sniffer dog after suspending four pupils for misusing drugs.
In yesterday’s operation, police handed out information about the Talk to Frank drugs campaign, which has a 24-hour confidential drugs advice line available on 0800 11 66 00 or support and advice via email on
[email protected].
