The Region - News from Feb. 16, 1986

Like their human counterparts, police dogs need probable cause before making drug searches on campus, Santa Barbara County attorneys have cautioned school officials. When Vandenberg Middle School officials found a cache of marijuana last fall, Principal Tom Love borrowed Air Force drug-detecting dogs and handlers from Vandenberg Air Force Base, where the school is located, as well as base security police to search for any other pot on campus. They did not find any, Love said. At the time, the school was awaiting an opinion on the matter from the Santa Barbara County counsel’s office. The opinion came back afterward that such searches could be conducted only with probable cause, Love said. “We do not have any plans to use dogs on the school grounds for just general searches,” he said.