Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is suspending the use of “suspicionless” drug searches with police dogs.

CHCCS has a policy that allows administrators to call for searches of lockers, desks and bags with drug-sniffing dogs based on the “expectation of violence, drug activity or disruption.”

CHCCS Superintendent Dr. Pam Baldwin says while the policy has not changed, her position can approve whether to conduct searches and she has chosen to suspend the method while research is done.

“In this case,” Baldwin says, “we determined that we’d like more information [on that method], so we suspended the process to ensure we’re doing the right thing for our students. That does not mean we’re not keeping our kids safe; that is first and foremost our priority.”

The impetus for the suspension was a letter from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a civil rights organization whose regional office is in Carrboro. The office, led by attorneys Mark Dorosin and Elizabeth Haddix, penned the letter saying sniff-searches undermine students’ privacy rights. It references a search at Carrboro High School in September, where Principal Beverly Rudolph wrote to parents informing them of a case where dogs picked up scents but found no drugs.

Using this example, the letter pointed out the overall effectiveness of sniff-searches as a reason to stop the method in the CHCCS system. It mentioned multiple studies which concluded biases of the police dogs’ handlers led to false positives during searches. The office also said the method might lead to unnecessary tension or fear among students.

One reason Baldwin feels comfortable suspending the random sniff-searches is the school system’s other options of teaching drug-use prevention.

“We do a lot of education through some of our curriculum,” she says, “as well as having great relationships with our students. We [have methods] such as advisory, our Student Services department, and talking with students around why it’s unhealthy, as well as trying to have those great partnership with our families.”

With these “suspicionless” searches on hold, Baldwin wants to assure parents the school system is still taking the necessary steps to keep students safe and ensure drugs stay off school grounds.

“We just want to make sure that we do have a process that keeps students safe,” says Baldwin, “and allows them to feel safe on campus while they’re trying to do the work students should be doing.”

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