Something else to watch for?

LoneStranger

New member
I ran across this the other day in a local paper and I would think that the implications should be obvious.
What I would like to know is what the dog is cueing on?

www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/77382

This was in the Lawrence Journal-World on 19 Dec 2001

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City/Local News

Teacher suspended for leaving rifle in locked truck
By Mindie Paget

Wednesday, December 19, 2001

Wellsville High School teacher Steve Decker is temporarily out of a job.

And he doesn't even have a deer to show for it.

The social studies teacher was suspended without pay for 60 days after a search dog hired by the school nosed down a deer rifle in his pickup truck.

"I just happened to forget it that morning," Decker said.

An avid hunter, Decker goes out nearly every morning before school — sometimes in the evening, too — in search of deer. He hasn't spotted a single one all season.

After one such trip a few weeks ago, he broke down his rifle, put it in its case, stashed it under the seat in his extended cab pickup truck and forgot to take it out before driving to school.

A dog with Interquest — a Houston-based canine detection company the district has hired to do random parking lot checks this year — sniffed out the gun inside Decker's locked truck.

Kansas law prohibits firearms on school property.

Principal Randall Renoud said he had nothing to do with Decker's suspension. Interquest officials contacted the district's central office, which, by law, must report the incident to police, he said.

Wellsville Police Sgt. Mike Reed, acting chief, said the report was handled by the school resource officer. Reed didn't know if formal charges had been filed.

Decker wasn't aware of any charges against him, and neither the Wellsville city prosecutor nor the Franklin County attorney could be reached for comment Tuesday.

A clerk in the district office, speaking on behalf of Supt. Denise O'Dea, said the district had no comment on the matter at this time.

Renoud said the search that resulted in Decker's suspension was the second of several searches that would occur this school year. The dogs are trained to detect drugs, alcohol, weapons and contraband.

"We wanted our schools to be as safe as they possibly can be," Renoud said. "But we did not feel that we had a 'problem.'"

After the first search, Renoud said, one student was suspended the rest of the year for having a weapon. Renoud wouldn't specify what kind of weapon but said it wasn't a gun.

This isn't Decker's first run-in with the district in his nearly 26 years as a teacher. Four years ago, the school board, without citing a reason, decided not to renew Decker's teaching contract. The decision prompted a walkout of about 150 Wellsville students. Decker was rehired just before classes started the following fall and said he still doesn't know why he was fired.

But Decker said that the two incidents are unrelated and that he can't blame the district for suspending him for having a gun at school — even if it was an accident.

"We live in bizarre times with all these things that have happened since September," Decker said.
 

labgrade

Member In Memoriam
Sadly, Deadman, they will run to no one. They will dial 911 & cower under their desks, praying to what god they have while waiting for "men with guns" to come save them.

Salvation will not arrive in time & many will then take up your own moniker.

Curious myself on what would be used to train a dog for a "weapons search." A dog can be trained to key on whatever (Hoppes#9, nitrates from powder resideue, etc.), but a knife?
 

faraway

New member
Might be worth noting it was a private company which did the search, under what amounts to as government consent. Could make life very difficult for the school teacher, as it could be that some possible improprieties of the search (and it was in a open public area anyway) might not be covered under the exclusionary rule (which has more or less been gutted over the last few years). As for the dogs and knifes, likely the dog would be a pysch. intimidation, the student got scared, the dog reacted to this, and the school authorities used the dogs agitation as the pretext for a search. And yes, the current infatuation the schools seem to have with ZT and behaving like guards in a bad prison movie...means little in practical terms of safety. Without the means to respond, on site and on time, another Harris and Klebold could succede. Problem is 'Columbines' are very, very rare events...and the schools may be causing bigger problems down the line by the various overreactions that have been demonstrated.
That said this schoolteachers oversight was simply unfortunate...but...he might have figured that a search was likely as he is a employee of the P.S.
Might be time to tie a piece of deerhide, with some 'doe in heat' in the truckbed...where it could be seen...
 
Basic rule is that when a citizen or a private company in this case, is asked (or tasked) to perform a function on behalf of the gubmint, it takes on the auspices of State Action and the exclusionary rule applies.
 

BIGSLOWHEAVY

New member
This is very bizzare to me. When I was in High School, one of our Asst. Principals ALWAYS had his .357 in a shoulder holster. He often walked the halls without his coat on an the eeeevil gun was there for all to see. One of our history/soc stu teachers often brought his 30-30, or his muzzle loader to class. This is not exactly ancient history as I graduated in 1989. There was not outrage or protest. In fact I remember a discussion of the Asst Principal in one of my classes and the concensus was that we felt a little safer with him there. When did schools quit teaching common sense? Needless to say, there were no school shootings at my HS.
 

BIGSLOWHEAVY

New member
Oh and in case you were wondering, no I didn't go to school in the sticks. I won't mention the exact school for obvious reasons, but it was in the Oklahoma City metro area.
 

SpazzTrap

New member
I had no idea that a dog could smell a broken-down, cased rifle, under the seat inside a locked truck. That's one hell of a dog.

Sounds to me like this district has something against our fair hunter. My dad has been a secondary school administrator for years and I have been briefed on several "ambushes" on teachers by teachers. They, as a group, are a malevolent bunch and IMO not to be trusted.

In our eyes (and evidently, the students eyes), the guy is a good one. Stands to reason that he was somewhat hated by his NEA union flag waving drone coworkers.

Spazz

(I think I just ranted)
 

S&W44

New member
I work in an elementary school here(Michigan) and even with a CCW,am not allowed to even have an unloaded weapon in my vehicle on school property,let alone carry one.
We had the police here a couple of weeks ago briefing the staff on the district's "crisis plan",what to do if we get a shooter in the building.Basically,the teachers are supposed to lock their classroom doors,barricade the door,and wait for help to arrive.Not much comfort,as the doors all have a large glass window,(break window,reach in and open door),and all doors open outward(so much for any barricade inside).Some plan
 

Azrael256

New member
S&W44, at my high school we had the same procedure. The teachers were instructed to lock all the doors and wait for the cavalry. There was a general consensus among all of my friends that we would knock the teacher unconscious and start evacuating the room, unless, however, we were in my computer science class. The teacher is a green beret, so we thought we'd kick back and watch him kill something.
 

Waitone

New member
Spazz, that is just what I thought when I read the article. The guy is a hunter who routinely goes out before class. Earlier on he had problems with the school board. Sounds like a bureaucratic hit was put out on him earlier. Sounds like the second hit was commissioned. I suspect the rental agency had "guidance" where to point the dog.

Smells like a set-up to me.
 

Waterdog

Moderator
Sounds like he was set up, casual conversation will sometimes get you in trouble.

His hunting habits, must have been known amongst his peers.

Waterdog
 

faraway

New member
4V50, Thanks about the exclusionary rule clarification. Haven't dealt with any of that stuff since the mid-80's, have forgotten much and wasn't sure if things had changed. And when used to muck about in the P.S.(now back in higher ed), as others have noted we were supposed to lock the doors, contain the kids and wait it out. Problem is, as noted, too much glass...and potential hostile fire zones in these type of rooms. And I don't recall any consideration of the specific places in each room, or even within the school best suited for cover, or any mention of these considerations by the P.S.(and this was in CO) The district in question seems however to have been after this P.S. teacher, ironic in that if that school had an incident, his rifle might have been useful. Reality is, the gun in the truck (and in violation of policies-I had one)can be of nominal value in these rare events, too far away. Actaully, I would check a class room to see what could be used as a weapon (beyond my pocket knife) if it
was needed...pathetic. Not a problem here, the institution I work in, many of the students are armed...and on the whole not a group for an predator to take lightly.
 

BIGSLOWHEAVY

New member
Guyon and sesop, Wasn't going to admit it but it caught me off guard and I got coffee through the nose. Just pictured the teacher carving up BG with a letter opener.
 
Don't know about your high school, but mine in California had classrooms made of cinderblock. Then the doors, the doors were of either a metal construction, or wood surrounded by metal. Very hard to open those doors by force unless you have the right tools, such as the key. :D
 

Hand_Rifle_Guy

New member
A teacher with a LETTER OPENER?!

Not in MY state.

Sharp steel is MUCH to dangerous to be allowed in any kind of proximity to students. They're instantly ready to seize the opportunity to carve up anyone within reach. What, don't you read the papers?

;) :rolleyes: ;)

More seriously, what happened to the fourth ammendment? As I understand it, you can violate student's rights because they're minors. Teachers usually are not.

Yup. Smells like a set-up. "We can ruin this guy's life easily. let's just turn Social Services loose on him with some made-up speculation about his habits. Maybe they'll take his kids away, hahaha! That'll teach him to piss ME off!"

Evil is as evil does, but the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
 
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