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Drug dogs search schools, nothing found in lockers

JANESVILLE — Drug-sniffing dogs found no drugs in two Janesville schools Friday morning.

The dogs reacted to four lockers at Edison Middle School and three lockers at Franklin Middle School, but nothing was found when school staff searched the lockers, said district spokeswoman Sheryl Miller.

Students at Edison and Franklin middle schools were in a “soft lockdown” as the dogs were led past lockers, Miller said.

In a soft lockdown, students must remain in their classrooms, but instruction continues as usual.

The dogs sniffed 400 to 500 lockers at Edison and 500 to 600 at Franklin, Miller said.

Dogs get tired or lose interest after a while, which limits the time they can be effective, said Sgt. Brian Donohoue of the Janesville Police Department.

Another reason not to have the dogs sweep the entire building is that police want to disrupt school no longer than 20 minutes, Donohoue said.

“I was very, very pleased with how many they covered in that short amount of time,” Donohoue said.

Drug dogs have not found drugs in lockers since dog searches of high schools and middle schools began in May 2005.

Dogs did find suspected marijuana during a drug-dog search of student parking lots last November.

One student each from Craig and Parker high schools was arrested on a charge of marijuana possession in those incidents.

Donohoue said he hoped to make a sweep of the high school parking lots before the end of the year.