HomeMy WebLinkAboutSWAHS Drug Concerns POLICE DEPARTMENT
CITY OF OAK PARK HEIGHTS
1416857 T11 STREET NORTH • P.O. BOX 2007 LINDY SWANSON
OAK PARK HEIGHTS, MINNESOTA 55082 CHIEF OF POLICE
® TELEPHONE: (612) 439 -4723
FAX: (612) 439 -3639
EMERGENCY: 911 6 -30 -97
To: SAHS Administration
From: Joe Croft
Re: SAHS Drug related incidents
Greetings and hope your summer is off to a good start. I just wanted to pass on a
little bit of statistics from the 1996 -1997 school year here at the SANS. As of the
last day of the 1996 -1997 school year there were 39 illegal narcotic related incidents
that took place on the campus. 31 of the incidents involved marijuana. 29 of the
incidents involved drug paraphernalia. 8 of the suspects were charged with felonies
including 2 for the sale of marijuana, 1 for the possession of psilocybin mushrooms,
1 for the sale of Ritilan, 1 for the possession of LSD, 2 for the possession and
sale of LSD, and 1 for the sale of a prescription painkiller. All together there were
69 students directly involved in these incidents and 2 non - students.
This is a drastic rise from the 1995 -1996 school year when there were only 11 narcotic
incidents. 7 of these involved possession of marijuana while 8 involved possession of
drug paraphernalia. During the 1995 -1996 school year there was also only 22 juveniles
involved in these incidents and only 1 was charged with a felony for possession of
marijuana with intent to distribute.
Although these statistics are based on reports from the police department and the 1996-
1997 school year is the first year there has been a full time police liaison at the
school, the facts still show that there is a drug problem in the school. I hope that
this issue can be addressed in a timely manner, before the numbers triple again. I
believe that the only way we can lower the numbers is by making it less desirable.
This includes bigger or better consequences, education, and enforcement. The police
and the community are doing their best to control the problem, however the community
is an uncontrolled environment. My hope is that the school will continue in its zero
tolerance goal, in hopes of turning the trend around.
I want to thank you for the opportunity of being the school liaison over the 1996 -1997
school year and for helping me with all the issues that we,together, dealt with over
the school year. It was truly a pleasure being able to work with the administration and
staff at the SAHS and I hope to see all of you this fall.
Thanks for your time,
Joe Croft