Guest Opinion: Are police dogs the right move for Utah schools? | News, sports, jobs

Do you want a police dog to sniff your child when he goes to school?

This is the Ogden School District’s answer to improving school safety. This comes following a tragic shooting that occurred in Georgia a few weeks ago.

I understand it. When something tragic like a school shooting happens, everyone wants to do what they can to prevent it from ever happening again. But at what cost?

Thomas Sowell famously said, “There are no solutions, only compromises.” In the same statement, he asks three really important questions that should be considered when making decisions like this: compared to what, at what price, and what hard evidence is there ?

Compared to what?

Introducing gun-sniffing dogs in schools seems to be a good solution. Especially compared to doing nothing. But there are other things a school can do without violating a student’s right to privacy.

Thirty minutes from Ogden is a school that has chosen a different solution.

Instead of reacting to fear, Northwest Middle School in Salt Lake City implemented a program to build community at the school. The school’s methods include some Harry Potter houses, and the implications are far-reaching. Student absenteeism has improved. But what is even more important for our current topic: incidents of bullying, fights and behavioral problems have decreased.

This is a different solution than school shootings and one that does not violate a student’s rights.

At what price?

How much does it cost to have a K-9 police unit at a school? One article points out that training a police dog can cost between $15,000 and $20,000. That’s a lot of money.

However, there are other costs associated with having a police dog in a school. What happens if a dog indicates that a student may have a weapon? The most likely scenario is that the student’s bag will be searched.

In most cases, a search is required to gain access to the building. During the search you might find a weapon, but in most cases you won’t find anything.

There is another catch to this whole scenario. In Utah, as in every other state in the USA, school attendance is compulsory for students. This is done through compulsory education laws. In some states this is a criminal offense and children can be taken away from their parents if they do not attend school.

Therefore, a student is legally required to attend school. As soon as a dog arrives, he can signal that he has something in his bag. If the student wishes to study that day, he or she must submit to a search or risk suspension.

You might be wondering, “What’s the big deal?” It’s just a quick backpack search.” Well, the Constitution explicitly protects us from unreasonable searches. A student being forced to go to school and then submit to a search is unreasonable. You have no way of avoiding the search. We tell students that they have no right to privacy.

What evidence do we have?

The entire premise of a K-9 search is that the dog has correctly identified something that should be searched.

But here’s a secret: Police dogs make mistakes. In fact, courts in Utah have found that police dogs are unreliable.

There is evidence that police dogs should not be used to search students.

What should be done?

What public schools don’t want to take into account is that the system itself needs to change. Schools have become high-stress environments where individuality is compromised. Pushing students to meet arbitrary milestones and an overemphasis on standardized testing negatively impacts students’ mental health.

We need to change our perspective on what education is and is not. The aforementioned Northwest Middle School has taken an important step. They have created an environment where students feel welcome. More schools need to do the same.

Very few want to hear this truth. Public schools need to change.

Jon England is an education policy analyst at the Libertas Institute in Lehi.