Stevenson drug probe tactics defended

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Updated: March 4, 2012 8:12AM

LINCOLNSHIRE — Adlai Stevenson High School officials and Lincolnshire police are defending the confiscation of student cellphones in an ongoing investigation into the sale and attempted sale of marijuana on the Lincolnshire campus.

So far, the probe has yielded an undisclosed number of student suspensions, but no expulsions or arrests.

The investigation has included the confiscation of several students’ mobile phones and the examination of text messages and photographs held in them.

Lincolnshire Police Chief Peter Kinsey noted that, because there have been no arrests or expulsions, some parents are questioning the authorities’ decisions to take students’ private property.

“I don’t think we’re doing anything illegal here, I think we’re doing the right thing,” Kinsey said. “I think there’s some unhappy parents out there.”

District 125 spokesman Jim Conrey said no one has been expelled — that requires a hearing before the School Board, which has not happened in relation to this case.

He alleged that some of the suspended students had attempted to buy or sell drugs at the school, while others were arranging sales.

“This investigation has been done strictly by the book,” Conrey said. “Those cellphones can be subject to search or confiscation. Having access to texts and cellphones has played a major role in this, without a doubt.”

Kinsey added that mobile phones have provided law enforcement with a bevy of evidence.

“These kids with their damn cell phones, they’ve got all kinds of things on there, going every which way,” he said.

Stevenson officials and Lincolnshire police hold one or two conferences at the school each year, at which parents and school officials frequently discuss the presence of drugs in the hallways.