By Gregory Ripps
Wilson County News
WOOF.
That’s the acronym for Watching Over Our Future, a program launched in the 81st Judicial District by District Attorney Audrey Louis.
WOOF provides random searches by a K9 team to find drugs in schools.
Every school district in Atascosa, Frio, Karnes, La Salle, and Wilson counties now has access to free and unlimited K9 searches at their high schools and junior high schools.
“Searches are done completely randomly or on request of the school if there is a specific need,” Louis explained.
A grant from the Texas governor’s office pays for the salary of the handler of the K9 — a Dutch Shepherd — and a vehicle.
Since Nov. 8, the K9 team has searched 17 schools.
The handler, Investigator Daniel Kaufman, is an Army veteran with eight years of law-enforcement experience. He served as a K9 deputy with the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office before joining the district attorney’s office.
Louis said she was determined to have the WOOF program in her judicial district for three reasons:
•Court dockets are packed with cases involving crimes stemming from drug addiction, with most criminals saying they were exposed to drugs during their junior high or high school years, often at school.
•Most schools can’t justify the cost of a K9, K9 handler, and patrol vehicle; but the district attorney’s office can cover the more than 5,000 square miles in the judicial district.
•Increased violence on school campuses prompts a greater law-enforcement presence at schools.
Louis said she talked with students at the high school in Santa Fe, Texas, after a May 18, 2018, shooting there took the lives of nine students and a teacher.
“While there were many ideas conveyed … students all said more visible and frequent visits from law enforcement would make them feel more safe,” Louis said.
While the district attorney acknowledges that WOOF will not completely end drug possession or use on school campuses, she said the random searches “will certainly be an added deterrent to bringing drugs to schools, locker rooms, and parking lots, as well as provide students a sense of safety and security, and hopefully prevent some students from going down the path of those that fill our district courtrooms.”
