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On Friday, some Hanceville residents may have expected trouble when they observed uniformed deputies and drug sniffing dogs at the town's middle school - but officials say that this will be a more common sight on campuses throughout the county as law enforcement officials increase presence in hopes of eliminating the temptation of student substance abuse. While canine units have been utilized on campus in the past, mostly at the request of school administrators, Cullman County Sheriff Mike Rainey said that random searches are increasing.

"We have these canines up here and we're spending money feeding them and sheltering them, so when there's down time we're going to have them out serving their purpose," said Rainey. "I have talked to superintendent Billy Coleman and we have worked out a plan to make sure that law enforcement presence is evident on campuses throughout the county."

The Cullman County Sheriff's Office has one canine on each shift according to Chief Deputy Max Bartlett. Each of the officer companions trains from six months to a year to learn how to locate illicit substances and danger as quickly as possible.

"These units are highly trained," he said. "Taking the units on campuses usually involves a walk through hallways past lockers and other areas of the school, if any contraband were present it would be quickly identified."

The search conducted in Hanceville last week turned up no illegal substances, according to officials. Coleman said that having the units visit schools is a proactive approach that will ensure that Cullman County schools never see the drug problems that some systems have.

"We're really committed to having drug free schools, and we're aware that there is a battle going on in this country against drugs," said Coleman. "In Cullman we have a lot of great kids, a lot kids who aren't tempted to use drugs and I like to look at the positive - but, as we look at the positive we are going to take into consideration the problems that are out there and work to prevent them."

Coleman said that it is prevention that plays a key role in keeping illicit drugs off of campuses.

"If students know that we are going to do these procedures, and that they are going to be done at random, they will know that it isn't a good idea to bring things to school that are against policy," he said. "And any way that we can give students another reason to say no is a good idea."

Cullman Police Chief Kenny Culpepper said that canine searches of school campuses in the city of Cullman have been done in the past and will continue.

"We preiodically make visits to city school campuses with out canine units," he said. "This is usually done at the request of the school's principal but at times they have asked the department to do the procedure on a random basis."

Article courtesy of The Cullman Times. Written by Sam Rolley for The Cullman Times.

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