Police Defend Drug Sting At School As A Deterrent

~~Riverside police arrested 13 students in a Ramona High School undercover drug sting last semester that some education officials say ensnares naïve teens while failing to catch major dealers.

.

 The Ramona school-buy program was modeled after one pioneered 30 years ago by the Los Angeles Police Department that was ended last year amid criticism from school district officials.

.

 Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach ran the LAPD school-buy program when he worked juvenile narcotics in Los Angeles during the early 1980s. He endorses it as an enforcement tool and a deterrent to students who bring drugs into schools.

.

 Leach said he has no evidence that the school-buy program is effective, “but who’s to say that any kind of narcotics enforcement works?”

.

 ”It’s extremely beneficial if we can take some drugs out of the hands of some kids,” Leach said. “If we can save one life, it’s beneficial.” Last semester, the Police Department recruited a young-appearing officer they believed fit the look of a teenaged “stoner” to work undercover. He enrolled at Ramona High School in Riverside and began hitting up students for drugs.

.

 Not even the school staff knew the guy was a Riverside police officer sent to flush out campus drug dealers.

.

 Riverside police Officer Bryan Galbreath worked undercover, posing as a student for almost four months with the Riverside police narcotics program. Thirteen students were arrested.

.

 In three months, the officer bought drugs 25 times. On Dec. 6, police swept through the school to make the arrests, mostly for selling small amounts of marijuana.

.

 It’s difficult to determine how many Inland police departments run school-buy programs. Some are reluctant to say if they are, for fear of endangering the undercover officers. Others want to keep drug dealers guessing.

.

Read full article here- Drug Stings in schools

http://ditchpass.blogspot.com/2014/06/police-defend-drug-sting-at-school-as.html