Los Angeles schools will review the police program of sending undercover officers into high schools to buy drugs amid questions over whether the busts are fair and effective, reports the Los Angeles Times. The School Buy program caught 252 students selling drugs over the last year. Police officials declared it a success, noting that it caught 105 more students than last year’s program.
Critics question whether the officers are targeting serious dealers. They note the rise in special-education students caught in recent years. “We’re finding that more and more special-education kids are being caught,” said Fonna Bishop, principal of Hollywood High School, where about a third of the students caught this year were in special education. “These are young people who have problems, learning disabilities, emotional trouble. They want to make friends, they want to be cool. They don’t think about consequences.”
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bust20jul20,1,1677427.story?coll=la-headlines-california