Bergen County Police Will Conduct K-9 Drill and Locker Search at Ridgewood High School
October 31,2014
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Bergen County Police Department plan to conduct a K-9 drill at Ridgewood High School sometime during the fall, according to school officials.The drill will be conducted on a random day and lockers will be arbitrary searched .
“The K-9 exercise will occur this fall on a school day randomly selected by the Ridgewood Police Department as one of the required monthly lockdown drill scenarios. Students will be secure in their classrooms at the time of the drill and class interruption will be minimal. Instruction will not be negatively impacted, nor will students come in contact with the canines or police.
The intent of the K-9 search drill is to enhance security protocols, but the exercise will also address concerns regarding possible disruptions to the educational process that may be occurring clandestinely. While it is a drill, any positive findings will be handled directly and appropriately by the Ridgewood High School administration, in accordance with New Jersey statute, Board of Education policy and police regulations. ”
According to the Bergen County Police website ,the Bergen County Police Department Canine Unit was established in 1975 with two Police Officers and two German Shepherd Dogs. The initial K9 teams were trained by the Philadelphia Police Department to aid investigations using their keen sense of smell for tracking and building searches. In the 30 plus years that the unit has been in existence it has evolved into a full time, full service K9 unit serving the law enforcement agencies of the region and the residents of Bergen County with comprehensive K9 functions. These functions include:
The Unit is currently comprised of dual purpose K-9 teams cross-trained in Narcotics detection, Explosive detection and Accelerant detection for arson investigation. Since its inception, the K9 Unit has responded to over 25,000 calls for service from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Since the K-9 Unit was established, it has been responsible for the seizure large quantities of controlled substances, the apprehension of numerous criminal actors, locating missing persons, locating evidence and proceeds from crimes scenes, and the seizure of large amounts of currency used in criminal activity.
In an email to parents, school officials said all schools are now required to conduct one fire drill and one school security drill per month.
