For Immediate Release

Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Chelmsford Police Department Conducts Scheduled K-9 Drug Search at High School

CHELMSFORD — Police Chief James Spinney reports that the Chelmsford Police Department today conducted a regularly scheduled “Hold in Place” to practice and check security measures and to conduct a K-9 search of Chelmsford High School for the presence of controlled substances.

“We would like to thank school officials and students for their support and cooperation during this procedure today,” Chief Spinney said. “The safety of our students is our number one priority which is why we conduct these searches. It has been several years since we have performed a search like this, so it was important to get this done.”

Fifteen K-9 officers and their dogs from the Greater Lowell area participated in the prearranged search, which took place at 8:25 a.m. and lasted for approximately 45 minutes. Police searched areas both inside and outside of the building, as well as five classrooms which were selected at random by police.

While the search was being conducted, there was minimal interruption to the students’ day due to detailed planning by school officials and police. Teachers and students remained in their classes and engaged in their planned lessons while police officers and K-9 teams inspected designated areas.

At no time did students have any interaction with the dogs or their handlers.

As a result of the search, K-9 units found a small amount of marijuana in an unattended student vehicle parked in the parking lot. Police report the marijuana appears to be for personal use and school officials will be handling the case administratively. No criminal charges were filed.

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