Sheriff's Office K9 Unit Finds Illegal Substances In Random Vehicles Today At ECHS

Darren Doyle, story
The Edmonson County Sheriff's Office selected random vehicles in the parking lot of ECHS today as their K9 unit, Tango searched for illegal substances. 

"K9 Units are allowed by law to perform walk-arounds on vehicles in public places," said Sheriff Shane Doyle. "We worked in conjunction with school resource officer Jeff Brooks in a coordinated effort to check out the high school today."

Doyle said they chose nine random vehicles and instructed Tango to attempt to sniff out illegal substances. He said Tango indicated illegal materials in four out of the nine vehicles chosen. Three out of those four contained illegal substances resulting in criminal charges for three ECHS students, according to Sheriff Doyle.

Doyle said that while the students now face charges, the purpose of the random sniff-searches aren't to get all the kids in trouble.

"We do this for two reasons," he said. "First, we want students to know that we have a right to use a K9 unit in this situation and that this is a serious issue. Second, we want to use this method as a preventive measure to keep kids off drugs."

No names or vehicles were released regarding today's incident.

Doyle said that the Sheriff's Office is aware of the fact that young people sometimes make mistakes, but it's better to address those mistakes now, rather than wait until they turn into bigger issues as adults.

"If we can get students to realize that there are consequences for these issues now, they'll have a far better chance of not making them down the road. It's better to face a misdemeanor charge now than something much more serious in the future."