Chinook's Edge School Division students will continue to benefit from the ongoing partnership between the division and area RCMP detachments during the upcoming 2011-2012 school year, say officials.ìThe RCMP are such an important part of the school community,î said division spokesperson Sandy Bexon. ìWe are on very familiar terms with RCMP in each community and we will continue to build on those relationships.ìOf course they are an important part of our communities, being good community partners working alongside our school staff to present certain concepts to the kids. They are often part of different presentations and different projects.îChinook's Edge has 40 schools across West Central Alberta, including in Olds, Innisfail, Sundre, Didsbury and Carstairs.RCMP liaison officers are assigned to many of the high schools in the division. Those same officers and others also visit and speak with students in the younger grades throughout the year.ìAll those programs are really solid programs that have been in place for a long time. It's all preventative, all about bridging the gaps,î she said.ìThe officers will be at all our schools for a variety of programs, and they will be frequent guests in our schools during the new year.îDepending on the grade of students, police will be giving lectures on such things as alcohol and drug abuse, bullying and cyber-bullying, Internet pornography prevention, and the dangers of sexting, said Didsbury RCMP Cpl. Warren Wright.Working with educators and school officials gives police a good opportunity to educate students about ìhidden dangers within the community,î he said.ìWe are always looking at education and prevention,î said Wright. ìIt's extremely important for the police to have a good relationship with students and to educate them.ìWe don't want them thinking we are these police officers who ride around in cars and write tickets. We want them to have a relationship of trust so if issues do come up in the future they can feel comfortable with the police and asking for help.îOther school divisions in Alberta also have regular police visit programs. For example, the Calgary Police Service recently announced a new program that will see officers visit every school in that city during the 2011-2012 school year, with every student from kindergarten to Grade 12 receiving at least one classroom visit.RCMP officers can also visit Chinook's Edge schools under the division's existing drug enforcement policy.Policy 1-23 is in place to ìprotect the health, welfare and safety of students and staff at the schools.î It allows narcotic detection dogs to be used to search for drugs in schools under certain conditions.Under the policy, the principal or designate may authorize a search by law enforcement of automobiles, lockers, bags or parcels. The policy does not allow random searches of individuals in the schools.If drugs or drug paraphernalia are found during a search, the parent or guardian of the student must be notified.ìA principal may suspend or seek expulsion of the student found to be in possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia,î the policy states.
