Resurrecting the failed “scared straight” mentality, Wauwatosa police are threatening to use dogs to search Tosa East students and use kids’ phones to implicate their friends in marijuana use. Rather than intervene in the lives of children and students via counseling, parents or guidance, Wauwatosa Police have announced their intention to increase the number of police dog searches of lockers, classrooms and vehicles parked on school grounds and in the neighborhood.
This new clip art flyer, from “the desk of Officer Morrill,” encourages students to provide police with information about their classmates for $50 (Quick 50 Program), rather than encouraging students to get help for marijuana use or possible drug addiction. Nowhere does this troubling flyer mention working with young people to address their behaviors, but instead threatens their privacy in their phones, homes and other personal property.
These are all continued symptoms of our failed “war on drugs” mentality that seeks to criminalize and push children through the school-to-prison pipeline instead of working with schools, families and churches to guide them toward more responsible choices and fulfilling lives.
This is the flyer:
