Public Employee Press

Board hits juvenile agency on dog search

They responded to what they thought was a fire alarm drill.

But when the Juvenile Counselors and the detained youths at the Bridges Juvenile Center gathered in the frigid gymnasium for 2 ½ hours without access to a bathroom on Nov. 20, 2006, they learned it was actually a surprise drug search.

“It was extremely demeaning,” said Darek Robinson, vice president of Juvenile Counselors Local 1457, who was present during the roundup conducted by the Dept. of Juvenile Justice.

Three counselors were forced to leave the gym. They flinched with fear as they were marched down a hallway, where dogs — German Shepherds and Labrador Retrievers — brushed up against them and sniffed them.

The workers were taken to an office. Managers informed them that their clothing showed traces of illicit substances.

They were ordered to sit in chairs as the dogs sniffed them again. One member had to remove articles of clothing as she was subjected to what the union called a strip search. Allergic to dogs, she broke out in hives, with her face red and swollen. Her Workers’ Compensation case for the nine days she was subsequently out of work is pending.

The search of the workers didn’t uncover any drugs.

“We don’t question DJJ’s right to carry out drug searches and certainly there shouldn’t be illegal substances in the facilities,” Local 1457 President Alex Parker said. “But we don’t want them using dogs to intimidate our members.”

Outraged, the local consulted with the DC 37 Legal Dept., and Sr. Assistant General Counsel Steven Sykes filed an improper practice charge, saying DJJ violated the contract because it did not negotiate with the union before the search.

In its September decision, the impartial Board of Collective Bargaining upheld DJJ’s right to do random drug searches but faulted the agency for not negotiating with the union.

“We were very upset with the invasive nature of the canine search and the physical search of our member,” Sykes said. “The board vindicated the union’s position that the policy and procedures for searches are a mandatory subject of bargain, which means they must consult with the union about them.”