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 Drug sweep nets reassuring results By Gene Friedman On May 5, the Savannah College of Art and Design college security department conducted one of its periodic drug sweeps of residence halls. These unannounced checks are performed for the sole purpose of ensuring that illegal drugs are not present at the college. This is in accordance with the official stance of the college that it will not tolerate the use, possession or sale of illegal drugs in any of its facilities. Everyone in the college holds this position, from the highest levels of the administration through the faculty and staff. The results of this operation were very reassuring. Gossip, rumor and innuendo notwithstanding, there is simply no evidence that drug use is common in SCAD residence halls. The organization of the K9 sweep itself was quite impressive. At the request of the college security department, a special detail of dogs and police handlers was organized. The resultant group consisted of 14 officers and dogs which assembled the morning of May 5 in the rear parking lot of Weston House. There were five officers from the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, six deputies from the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, and three deputies from the Peach County Sheriff’s Office near Macon, all with their highly trained canines. Because of the heavy demand for these dogs in regular police work, the college was limited in conducting previous searches. In the past, it was not possible to go to all buildings on the same day, so sweeps were carried out in only one or two locations. Also, because of the continued high workload of the dogs, it was impossible to schedule them to search every building during the course of the academic year. For the purposes of this exercise, though, extensive planning was conducted to coordinate officers, dogs, schedules and resources. Joining this effort was Sal Buzzurro, director of residence life, and his staff. The group began in the tri-building complex of Turner, Weston and Dyson houses. After those buildings were completed, the group moved on to Oglethorpe House and then to all the small buildings — Gordon, Forsyth, Gaston and Pulaski houses. The dogs alerted on several rooms in some of the residence halls but no drugs were found. These hits were probably due to smoke or residue remaining on clothing. For example, even if someone did not smoke dope but was in the same room with others who did, their clothing would retain traces of the drug. The noses of the dogs are so sensitive that even days later they will pick up on the microscopic residue caught in clothing fibers. Out of these eight buildings containing nearly 2,000 students, there were just two rooms in which the dogs located small traces of illegal drugs. Nothing more than minute residue was found but even that was enough for the canines to sense. Once again, the goal of these searches is to ensure a drug-free college. The intent is not to harass our college community or to have a negative impact on a student’s academic career. College representatives were happy that no substantial amounts of drugs were found and that so few students were involved. Indeed, everyone in the SCAD family should feel proud of the results. Friedman is director of college security at SCAD. |
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