Palm Springs Unified School District Hires Drug Sniffing Dogs

“Nico” is a nosy dog. The two-year-old Dutch Shepherd is trained to sniff out drugs, weapons, alcohol and tobacco.

“A lot of students from this school are doing drugs,” said Sonia Loera, a seventh-grade student at Nellie N. Coffman Middle School. “And most of the two years, they’re doing more and more drugs.”

This is the first time the district hired dogs like Nico using money from a federal grant. The dogs are specially trained to detect odors. Every drug has a unique chemical smell.

In a demonstration, Nico passes by each bag and sits down when he sniffs out something unusual.

“That was cool,” said Anthony Garcia, a sixth-grade student.

Nico’s handler, Roger Ourique, says the dogs are 95% accurate.

The district will have about three to four unannounced searches for each middle school and high school for the rest of the school year.

Teachers will also be searched as well.

“If we do parking lots at the high school and a staff member has parked in the parking lot, we don’t discriminate,” said Security Director Roy Hill.

The American Civil Liberties Union is against these searches. But, Ourique disagrees.

“We don’t search actual students’ bodies,” he said. “We just search belongings, such as backpacks, trash cans and cabinets in the classroom.”

A student’s first offense could result in suspension. A second offense could mean expulsion.

Last semester, 154 high school and 30 middle school students got suspended for drug related incidents.

Twenty-four high schoolers got expelled.

The district’s goal is to keep drugs off campus. It’s larger goal: to keep kids from using drugs in the first place.