ECHS Gets Surprise Search From KSP Canine Units

Kentucky State Police Canine Units prepare to do a search today at Edmonson Co. High School.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
Edmonson County High School was visited today by several Kentucky State Police Troopers as multiple canine units arrived today for a random check for illegal substances.

The school went into a controlled lock down to keep students and units separated.

ECHS Principal Jonathan Williams said that while administration learned of the visit yesterday, the remaining staff at the school knew nothing about the visit until two minutes before KSP arrived.

KSP Canine unit checks out a row of backpacks at ECHS today.

"Problems in our school oftentimes stem from problems in our community," said Mr. Williams. "We are finding out that illegal substances are being sold in vapes at some local stores. These illegal substances include THC and who knows what. We're trying to keep this out of our schools."

KSP Canine Units at ECHS.

Mr. Williams said the school followed protocol from the state police in order to help with the visit.

"Everything went well and I'm thankful the results were as small as they were," he said. "To be even more effective, we are asking our parents and guardians to have a partnership with us here at school, to do your part at home to help. No one had advanced notice of today's event and I appreciate Kentucky State Police for being willing to help."

Superintendent of Edmonson County Schools Brian Alexander said that over the course of several weeks, the district administration has worked with the Kentucky State Police and local law enforcement to coordinate a search where canine units would be brought in to search backpacks, lockers, and parking lots. 

This morning, students at Edmonson County High School were asked to place their backpacks in the hallways and return to their classrooms, according to Mr. Alexander.  The Middle School and High School, each housed in the same overall building, then went into lock down with students in locked classrooms with no way of being approached by a canine unit, which consisted of a dog and a handler.  If a canine "hit" on a backpack, locker, or vehicle, school personnel contacted parents and guardians and performed a search at that time.

"While the results we had were minimal, we want to be proactive as a school district in preventing drugs in our schools," Mr. Alexander said. "Drugs are a societal problem that wind up in our schools.  As always, our first priority is the safety of our students and our second priority is quality instruction for all of our students, preschool through 12th grade.  My thanks goes out to everyone that had a part in making our schools a safer place today."

Callie Beliles, Director of Facilities and Safety, said the district is grateful to KSP and local law enforcement for their willingness to assist Edmonson County Schools in their efforts to rid local schools of drugs.

"This has been a planned effort with law enforcement over the course of several weeks," she said. "Our high school administration was informed yesterday, and I applaud their coordination efforts. This went as smoothly as possible. We had seven canine units from various parts of Kentucky searching Edmonson County High School. It was our goal to complete the search as quickly as possible so that normal instruction could resume, and the dogs came ready to work. " 

Brownsville Police and the Edmonson County Sheriff's Office were also present during the search.