In The News

A Worthy Effort In Need Of Help
Originally printed as Commentary in The Westerly Sun
Thursday, April 22, 2010

It sounded like a repeat of the 70's, when high school students were "paranoid" about the new kid in class. He looks too old to be a student. He asks weird questions. He wants to know where he can get dope. He's a narc (narcotics cop). He's been outed. Don't talk to him. A revised version of that scenario played out recently at Westerly High School during a police undercover operation funded by the Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force.

In fact, Westerly High School students tell us they knew about the undercover officer after just a few days. The officer, on loan from another department, was undercover for about a month. According to Westerly Police Chief Edward Mello, the officer was able to buy pot based on information he garnered from students. One juvenile was arrested.

Mello conceded students stopped talking to the officer after three weeks. Our informants say it was much sooner.

The large-scale drug sweep of the school, certainly not the first, did not net any drugs. Not because students are not selling or using drugs in the school, emphasized Mello.

If nothing else, the presence of lots of cops, eight drug-sniffing canines and students being herded to the cafeteria where they were mandated to stay had at least a short-term effect on those who were hiding drugs elsewhere, knowing the bust was coming.

There is no decline in the number of drug arrests involving juveniles, said Mello. And that is what is truly frightening. Our kids have easy access to illegal drugs, be it prescription or street drugs. And it is much worse than anyone can imagine unless they are involved with teens in this age group. One of the most popular drugs right now is prescribed for those who legitimately have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. There are stories of bright students pulling straight-A's - a parent's dream - except they are being helped by Adderall or a similar medication. And they bought it from the kid that has a prescription.

After the drug sweep, several parents called to complain to editors at The Sun that their children were "locked up" for several hours during the operation. They were not allowed to leave the cafeteria, they said. But police and administrators needed to clear the halls for this effort and we don't see a problem with this strategy. After all, this sweep was intended to address a problem in hopes of keeping students safe.

Given previous indications of drug and alcohol use by students in and out of the classroom, we endorse a police presence in the schools. Funding for school resource officers - now that federal grants for such services have largely dried up - is hard to come by. Yet some kind of regular presence would likely yield some benefit rather than giving up on the concept. We commend the task force and police for their efforts in keeping the fight against drugs on the front burner.