GLENDALE, AZ (AZ Family) — A growing number of schools across the state are bringing drug dogs to campus to help improve security.

Several highly trained K-9s have come through Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale this week. They are part of a team named Desert drug dogswho visit Vale schools throughout the year.

“One hundred percent, it’s about keeping the campus safe and keeping our students safe,” said Tony Miller, the school’s assistant principal. “We don’t want anyone to use something that could harm themselves or harm someone else.”

K-9s are trained to find signs of marijuana, fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and meth.

“The dogs are looking for the smell of drugs,” handler Michaley Adkins said. “I don’t necessarily find the drug product itself, but I find the smell of the drug. If it finds something, it will give us a discovery alert, which will either be a settlement or a layover.”

All searches take place when students are not around in the locker rooms

If there is a possible vehicle hit, students will be called out of class immediately and the car will be searched; Miller does the following, talking to students and looking through cars.

The school can legally search anything on campus as long as they have reasonable suspicion.

All three cars were searched in the student parking lot Tuesday, found to be clean, with no contraband and nothing illegal found elsewhere on campus.

“That tells me I’m making good decisions,” Miller said. “That’s always a very satisfying feeling when you know they’re not engaging in activities that will harm themselves or potentially others.”

School officials do not notify students when the drug dogs are coming, but they are told that the dogs will appear randomly during the semester, which has proven to be an added incentive not to bring anything illegal to school.

“If they don’t know when we’re coming and if we can show up multiple times at any time, any time of the day, then obviously that increases deterrence,” said Dana Thelander, of Desert Drug Dog. “It’s a chance to add another layer of security protection.”

The Deer Valley Unified School District they currently spend about $3,000 to have the dogs search five school campuses throughout the year.

For more information about the Desert Drug Dog program, visit their website.

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