Information submitted by the Northborough Police Department
On Friday, June 14, 2013, members of the Northborough and Southborough Police Departments along with Massachusetts State Police K-9 handlers and their drug detection dogs conducted a sweep of Algonquin Regional High School.
Police commenced the unannounced sweep at 9:15 Friday morning and it was completed by 10:15.
As a result of this activity, a 16 year-old Northborough boy, a student at the school, was arrested for possession of a Class D controlled substance with intent to distribute. The contraband was located in the student’s locker and consisted of six foil wrapped packages. The student was called out of class and a additional three foil wrapped packages containing marijuana were found in a backpack in the student’s possession. The contraband was packaged in a manner consistent with distribution.
This was the first unannounced drug sweep at the school and follows on the heels of an announced search that was conducted on March 14.
The use of drug detecting K9 sweeps is the result of a collaborative effort between the police, the superintendent’s office and school administrators. After thoughtful conversations between police and school officials it was decided that the sweeps would be used as a proactive measure to insure that no illegal drugs are present on the school campus. Both searches have been made possible due to the personnel and asset support received from the Massachusetts State Police K9 section.
Friday’s sweep and the March 14 sweep were preceded by a visit to Algonquin on Monday, Feb. 11, by Northborough Police Chief Mark K. Leahy. The chief spoke with students in all four grades. The students were informed that a drug search would be forthcoming; that the students would be told the date and time of the first search; that criminal prosecution would accompany any illegal drugs found; and that, subsequent to the announced search there would be future unannounced searches as well. Chief Leahy explained to the students and staff that the goal was to remove illegal drugs from the school and its grounds, as part of a larger school safety initiative.
During the February visit, the Chief explained that if no illegal drugs were located, that he would consider the sweeps a success. “Our goal is to remove illegal drugs from the campus, period.”