Teen charged after drug dog searches schools

MILLINOCKET – A 16-year-old male was arrested after a state police officer and his German shepherd found a small amount of marijuana during a search at Stearns High School and Millinocket Middle School, state police said Wednesday.

The boy was charged Monday with possession of marijuana and issued a summons, Trooper Barry Meserve said.

It was the schools’ first random, unannounced search.

“We want to promote student awareness that drugs are illegal and to ensure that kids know that we’re concerned about them and their safety,” Superintendent Sara Alberts said Wednesday.

Meserve and his dog, Semper, patrolled hallways at the schools.

About five lockers were opened when Semper indicated that drugs might be present. Semper’s sense of smell does not require lockers to be opened first, Meserve said.

Meserve, Police Chief Donald Bolduc and Alberts would not say where precisely the marijuana was found. Bolduc, several town police officers and the school’s principals accompanied Meserve and Semper.

According to the policy, “Students, their personal property and their vehicles may be searched upon reasonable suspicion that they possess any items or substances which are prohibited by law, board policies and/or school rules, or which interfere with the operations, discipline or general welfare of the school.”

All school storage facilities – including lockers, desks and parking lots – are school property, the policy states.

“Students have no expectation of privacy in school storage facilities or for any items” placed in them, the policy states.

The policy allows for random, unannounced searches and allows searches to occur with groups of students when a potential threat to safety is identified. Students who refuse searches may be subjected to disciplinary action, the policy states.

Approved by the Union 113 board and the Millinocket Board of Education on May 10 after a legal review, the policy was issued to faculty and students within the first week of school, Alberts said.

Students and faculty “were very aware that this search was something that was going to happen sometime during the school year,” Alberts said.

Such searches are becoming commonplace for Meserve and Semper as more school boards adopt policies regarding searches, Meserve said. He said he and the dog do five or six searches a year.

“The school has to request drug search through us and we have to ensure that they have a written policy,” Meserve said. “Everyone has to agree with our policy that we will be charging people that have the drugs on them.”

Students should expect more random searches, Bolduc said.