Griffin Paterson, Senior Editor
@GPCourant
Due to a combination of incidents with drugs in NCHS last year and a spike in drug-related deaths among former students, the Board of Education is considering conducting unannounced drug sweeps here through the New Canaan Police Department’s canine unit.
NCPD Chief Leon Krolikowski is proponent of the sweeps. “It’s a great idea. We’re hopeful that combined with the Board of Education and our input, that we could put a policy together that allows it on an unannounced basis,” Chief Krolikowski said. “We’re very concerned about drugs in the high school. We know there are drugs in the high school, we know that for sure. We’ve made arrests, we’ve gotten information, we know there are drugs there. We want to make sure that the school grounds are as substance free as possible. Hopefully, that’s the superintendent’s goal and the Board of Education’s goal as well.”
NCPD School Resource Officer Jason Kim, through first-hand experience, would be a supporter of the proposed searches. “I understand it is a controversial issue, but my answer will definitely be weighed heavily towards the canine checks in schools. As a parent of three children, my hope is that any school is a safe environment for students to learn while parents feel safe that their children are in good hands,” Officer Kim said. ‘There is no place for illegal drugs within a school where students are supposed to learn, prepare for the future and feel safe. The canine would be an excellent deterrent at keeping drugs out of the schools.”
Such an operation would take the cooperation of both NCHS and NCPD. Principal Bill Egan is ready to comply with whatever is agreed upon. “I do not have an opinion on whether drug sniffing dogs should come to the high school. My whole function is to make sure we keep our student body safe,” Principal Egan said. “I’ll do everything that’s in my power to keep students safe. Obviously I’ll abide by and follow any policies that are adopted by the Board of Education.”
Chair of the Board of Education Hazel Hobbs had this to say about the matter. “The Board of Education members share the community’s concern about any illegal drugs in the high school,” Ms. Hobbs said. “Individual board members are also informally researching the problem and solutions with parents, through discussion, reading, and participating in town organizations focusing on students developing healthy choices. The board is always interested in doing whatever we can do that will make the schools safe and drug free. Our present policies reflect this and are being enforced.”
While the Board of Education sees current policies as being effective, NCPD would like to take further action. “The ultimate goal is that we want to make sure as best we can that there are not any illegal substances in our school that are going to interfere with learning,” Chief Krolikowski said. “It’s not the entire solution to the drug problem, it’s only a part of it. But a big step, I think, is to make sure that our schools are as substance free as possible.”
Principal Egan shared a similar sentiment. “I want kids to be happy, I want them to do well, and to be safe. Certainly, you never want to see anyone have problems with substance abuse at any age,” Principal Egan said. “Everybody has that same goal. The question is how to go about doing it.”
Chief Krolikowski and his department know that there are drugs in the high school. “People are coming to school to sell drugs, we know that occurs. We’ve made arrests for kids selling drugs at the school. That’s our primary focus,” Chief Krolikowski said. “From a bunch of different angles, were going to aggressively investigate any information we receive about people in the high school age group selling drugs, or even possessing drugs.”
Officer Kim has seen incidents involving drugs on the rise at NCHS. “During my four years as School Resource Officer, I have noticed that incidents involving drugs, marijuana and alcohol especially, regarding youths have increased,” Officer Kim said. “This is for students and youths in general within the town and not only within the schools. What I am noticing is that minor infractions as well as incidents regarding arrest are both more than what I used to see and hear about.”
With six deaths involving drug overdoses and former NCHS students in the past two years, namely with heroin, NCPD is looking to take a stand at the place where they believe it all starts. “We want to make people that are so inclined to come to school and sell drugs think twice or three times about doing it because of the potential that the day they come to school with drugs is the day that we’re going to come there unannounced,” Chief Krolikowski said. “If one student was interested in heroin and we took that opportunity away by doing a random search, or by merely the threat of it, that’s our goal.”
Such a drug sweep during school would be a first in NCHS history according to Chief Krolikowski, with schools as close as Wilton conducting an announced drug sweep on October 9th with plans for unannounced searches to follow. However, this would not be the first time even this year the police have done a sweep in the high school, with one occurring just before school started. When asked about it, Chief Krolikowski called it a success. “We learned some things. We understood what it would take to do such a search,” Chief Krolikowski said. “We had never done it before, so it was a learning experience for us so now we know exactly what we need to do. The superintendent accompanied us as well Principal Egan so they both saw what the dog can do and cannot do. They saw how precise he was and what he’s able to find.”
Just how precise? Precise enough that Chief Krolikowski believes that any and all drugs will be found during a proposed sweep. “If it is in a locker or any fixed place, it is very likely that Apollo [the dog]will find it. His nose is thousands of times more powerful than the human nose. He can smell the faintest trace of a drug,” Chief Krolikowski said. “For example, if drugs were left in a locker, say in the springtime, and over the course of the summer no one cleaned the locker and it was just left there, with no actual drugs there but just that faint residue, he’ll smell it. He can smell a very tiny amount of drugs virtually anywhere.”
Despite the idea of the search being unannounced, the whole school will likely be aware of the search as its taking place, but with only the ability to sit and wait until it concludes. “The way I imagine it would work would be a lockdown drill of some sort,” Chief Krolikowski said. “During the lockdown drill when everybody is in their classroom, where your learning is somewhat interrupted, we would come through and do the search. That is the concept.”
If the New Canaan Public Schools agree to this plan, it would still take time for NCPS and NCPD to come together and work out the details of such an operation. “I’d like to see if before the end of the year,” Chief Krolikowski said. “But we are going to work closely with the superintendent and the Board of Education to put together a policy everybody can live with that is fair and recognizes all of the different circumstances that might occur.”
See Apollo demonstrate his drug sniffing abilities here.
