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Ross
Mason photo
This
example of one of Anthem’s 21 pocket parks is just
off of Memorial Drive in Anthem Parkside.
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Sheriff’s
Office: BCHS drug use on rise
School
district denys any problem
by Jennifer Krahe
ANTHEM
– “There’s a juvenile problem all through Anthem,” said
MCSO Capt. Ron Stoner.
Incidence
of curfew violation, juvenile crime, vandalism and drug
use in Anthem are on the rise, according to the Maricopa
County Sheriff’s Office. “The juvenile arrests we’ve made
on
curfew–they had drugs and alcohol,” Stoner reported.
Even
though school is out for the summer, underage drinking
and drug use is still of concern to
those entrusted with Anthem law enforcement.
“Can
I specifically say they are using drugs in school? No, they don’t do it in school,” said Stoner.
“What I’m saying is that after school, residents off of
Memorial and Arcadia streets were chased off by kids down
in the pocket parks smoking pot.”
Pocket
parks, 21 in number, are small, public areas, usually
grassy, located throughout Anthem’s neighborhoods.
In
a telephonic conversation with The Desert Advocate, Sandi
Hicks, director of public relations for Deer Valley Unified
School District, vehemently denied any drug problems at
Boulder Creek High School.
Asked
for comment on Capt. Stoner’s remarks and reported resident
suspicions of student drug usage, “You’re saying some
things here that are absolutely not true,” Hicks said.
“I know this is something the sheriff’s department likes...we
haven’t had any drug incidents in the school.”
“Everything
is rosy on campus–that may be true to a degree, but they’re
not doing anything to make sure it stays that way coming
and going,” Stoner responded. “But burglars are not going
to commit burglaries in front of us, and only whacked‑out
kids will do it (smoke marijuana) on campus.
“I
cannot nail it down to any drug incidents on campus,”
Stoner admitted. “I
am referring to their activities immediately after school.
It’s common knowledge of people I’m talking to, to go
out in the wash and kids are smoking dope.”
“If
it’s happening in the washes, it’s really a community
problem,” Hicks said. She went on to say that she was
familiar with BCHS and there wasn’t any wash in close
proximity to the school in which students could do drugs.
However,
in a follow‑up e‑mail, Hicks retracted her
statement about the wash.
“There is a wash that is between the high school
property and I‑17,” she wrote. “BCHS has a chain‑link
fence that separates it from the wash. Security cameras
cover the wash. Campus security staff patrols the grounds
and observes the wash.”
Hicks
continued, “After talking with Principal Kevin Imes, no
students have been found in the wash during school hours
thus far.”
“If
you notice, she says ‘campus security’ and all this stuff,”
said Stoner. “DVUSD
wants to make like there’s no problem with the children.”
In
the telephone interview, Hicks related that permission
to perform drug searches on school grounds must be granted
by students and parents.
Capt.
Stoner disagreed, and pointed out that the school is a
public institution funded by taxpayer money. “Students
have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their lockers,
etc.,” he said. “Those lockers belong to the community.”
Hicks’
e‑mail, however, said something a bit different
from her prior statement regarding parental permission:
“If a student was suspected of possessing drugs, the school
can search backpacks and cars. Remember, the school does
not have lockers. While
the school is not obligated to notify parents, the school’s
policy is to call parents in advance of the search.
Should the parents want to be present, the school
would honor that request.”
According
to Stoner, what Hicks says about student drug use is probably
true–there haven’t been any incidents within the school.
“The thought process (within MCSO) is that if they’ve
got it on them, they are either hiding it outside or they
have it on their person at school,” he explained.
When
asked how she might determine whether or not a child has
a drug or alcohol problem, Hicks stated, “It’s a gut feeling
when you’ve been working with kids your whole life.”
As
for the possibility of school searches, she replied, “If
it’s warranted, we have school resource officers on campus
and we would allow them, with students’ permission as
well as parents’ permission.”
Stoner
says MCSO wanted to bring drug‑sniffing dogs into
Boulder Creek, as was procedure in the Paradise Valley
school district and is now procedure in Scottsdale schools.
“What’s so different about a school resource officer
(vs. a police officer)?
For the kids to know that you are going to bring
in dogs on a regular basis checking for dope, you are
cleaning the environment,” he said. “Armed officers–we’re
all the bad guys until you have a Columbine or a Redlake.
Almost every school district has suffered someone
making threats.”
“We
won’t allow dogs on campus while kids are there because
of student safety,” Hicks reported.
MCSO’s
Lt. Joe Rodriguez spoke to The Desert Advocate about student
safety around K‑9 officers. “Generally speaking,
most of the dogs are pretty social,” he said. “They have
to be very obedient to perform this task. We can’t have
any dogs that are out of control or not trainable because
there’s too much at stake.”
Rodriguez
talked about the use of K‑9 forces to do drug sniffing
in Paradise Valley schools. “We used to have a contract,”
he related, “but now they have contracted a private company.”
At Paradise Valley, a staff member would accompany the
officer and the K‑9 through the school.
As the dog must be concentrating on the task at
hand, “we don’t like kids to go right up to us,” he explained.
“We create a safe barrier–this is our space to work. We do it during class, minimizing traffic in
the hallways.”
He
went on to say, “We do about 100 public demonstrations
a year–from bringing dogs in to preschool classes to presenting
in college classes to visiting at senior centers. It’s
up to the individual handlers who the dogs interact with
and who they don’t. We have a few dogs we allow them to
pet.
“If
you educate yourself on the K‑9, you’ll know it’s
a safe issue. It’s not any more dangerous than what occurs
at a public school during the day,” said Rodriguez.
“My
take is that schools do nothing proactive to determine
if there is a drug problem,” Stoner asserted. “They are
a part of the community. They’re tax paid and thereby
a government entity. It’s a community thing to straighten everything
out–if the school doesn’t tolerate dope, then the community
won’t tolerate dope. They
(the school district) do a lot of good stuff, but they’re
sweeping dirt under the rug. As long as it doesn’t occur
on school property, they’re safe?”
