Sniffer dogs get green light to scour SA high schools in search of illicit drugs

Sniffer dogs could start scouring public secondary schools for drugs within months after the State Government signed off on a range of protocols around their use.

• Marshall pledges to send police dogs into schools

Sniffer dogs could start scouring public secondary schools for drugs within months after the State Government signed off on a range of protocols around their use.

School principals must request a visit from sniffer dogs, showcasing a “demonstrated need” for a dog operation before they venture on to school grounds.

The need for a sniffer dog visit could include a high number of drug-related incidents at the school, or possession or dealing in the local area, the protocol document states.

Dogs will only be deployed at public secondary schools, or combined schools with a separate area for secondary students.

Private schools can also opt in to a sniffer dog operation.

Police will continue to deploy sniffer dogs to schools without advance notice if they have a warrant or a reasonable suspicion that an illicit drug is in the school.

Teachers and students will have no advance notice of a sniffer dog operation and will gather at an assembly point while the dogs search school buildings.

Students will be watched for signs of suspicious behaviour.

Education Minister John Gardner said the protocol, developed last year by the Education Department and police, was designed with “student wellbeing and natural justice at its core”.

“We are taking strong action to protect our children from illicit substances, which we know can interrupt learning, impair development and result in social, emotional, financial and health problems that continue into adulthood,” Mr Gardner, pictured, said.

The protocol said a student or teacher suspected of possessing an illegal drug must be “protected from stigma” and cannot be taken from the assembly area, out of a class or publicly identified.

It says an “indication” – when a sniffer dog sits next to a person or property – is not evidence of an offence and no disciplinary action can be taken without other evidence, including physical possession of drugs or an admission.

The contentious policy has been attacked by Labor and the Greens.