January 14 began like any other Wednesday at Mount Shasta High School. Students arrived to class and began their assignments. Little did they know that somewhere in town, 50 law enforcement officers were gearing up to serve nine arrest warrants and six search warrants, all stemming from an undercover drug bust operation that had been conducted within the walls of their school.
They were even more surprised to learn that the new guy in class, known to them as Connor Williams, was actually a 22 year-old sheriff’s deputy named Earl Klapperich, and that he was responsible for the video taping and recording of numerous drug transactions taking place in and around campus.
Several MSHS students were interviewed to get their views on the operation. Their names are not being reported.
“He seemed a little weird, but I never thought he was a snitch,” said one high school boy. “I sat right in front of him and talked to him a couple of times. It’s weird to think that he was actually a cop.”
Others agreed. “No one likes to be lied to,” said one girl. “Adults don’t like it, and neither do we. It really makes it hard to trust anyone new. [MSHS] isn’t big. Most of us have been going to school together forever, since kindergarten... so when someone new comes, it’s already hard for them to make friends. Now anyone new is gonna be a ‘narc.’”
Several students were upset by the circumstances of the arrest of two of their classmates, which took place right in the classroom.
Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins stated during a Siskiyou Union High School board meeting on the day of the arrests that the goal of the operation was not to get kids in trouble, but rather to identify adults who were supplying them with illegal substances.
Mount Shasta Police Chief Parish Cross also spoke at the meeting. “Every once in a while, we are going to flex our muscles. Students get a sense of arrogance when they are able to get away with this type of behavior for a while... The arresting officers were not aggressive, but we wanted to make a statement... what these kids were engaged in was inappropriate and unhealthy.”
“It was humiliating for them,” said one senior. “I don’t really think it was necessary. They could have called [the students] to the office and arrested them there. They didn’t have to do it the way they did.”
Another student said, “I guess if you’re going to be doing that stuff, you gotta think you might get caught. Maybe you don’t think you’re going to get arrested at school, but that’s how it happened.”
The students expressed a wide range of opinions about whether they think drugs are a problem at MSHS.
“I don’t see what the big deal is. I don’t think drugs are a problem at all,” said one.
“It’s not hard to tell that lots of kids smoke,” said another. “Of course [drug sales] happen. It happens all the time. I don’t think we needed a narc to come in to find that out... but I guess they got what they wanted... they got that council lady.”
Many students mentioned Katrina Howard, the newest member of Mount Shasta’s City Council, who was among those arrested on drug sales charges. Task Force officers reported the discovery of 34 pounds of marijuana in Howard’s home during her Jan. 14 arrest.
“I can’t believe [Howard] had that much weed,” said one boy. “I mean, if kids got arrested for selling or whatever, I’m glad they arrested her too.”
Students disagreed about whether they think the operation will change things at MSHS.
“Nope. It’s not going to change anything,” said one boy. “People are just going to be more careful who they get weed from.”
“I don’t think [smoking pot] is worth it,” said a girl. “I feel bad for [the kids who were arrested]... this whole thing scared me out of [wanting to smoke pot].”
Although the students concentrated on marijuana use and sales, Assistant District Attorney Christine Winte pointed out that while pot seemed to be the most prevalent drug at MSHS, the undercover officer also discovered use of ecstacy and psilocybin mushrooms by students.
Ecstacy is a derivative of methamphetamines, Winte said, and is dangerous because it can be deadly on its first use. Psilocybin mushrooms are hallucinogenic, and users only need .01 grams to get an effect. “Our kids are dealing with this, and it’s scary,” Winte said.
Chief Cross explained that a similar undercover operation had been conducted at MSHS twice before – once when he was a student there, and again 10 years ago. “Hopefully [this operation] had a profound effect on those [students] who were heading down the wrong path,” he said.
|
|
|
January 14 began like any other Wednesday at Mount Shasta High School. Students arrived to class and began their assignments. Little did they know that somewhere in town, 50 law enforcement officers were gearing up to serve nine arrest warrants and six search warrants, all stemming from an undercover drug bust operation that had been conducted within the walls of their school.
They were even more surprised to learn that the new guy in class, known to them as Connor Williams, was actually a 22 year-old sheriff’s deputy named Earl Klapperich, and that he was responsible for the video taping and recording of numerous drug transactions taking place in and around campus.
Several MSHS students were interviewed to get their views on the operation. Their names are not being reported.
“He seemed a little weird, but I never thought he was a snitch,” said one high school boy. “I sat right in front of him and talked to him a couple of times. It’s weird to think that he was actually a cop.”
Others agreed. “No one likes to be lied to,” said one girl. “Adults don’t like it, and neither do we. It really makes it hard to trust anyone new. [MSHS] isn’t big. Most of us have been going to school together forever, since kindergarten... so when someone new comes, it’s already hard for them to make friends. Now anyone new is gonna be a ‘narc.’”
Several students were upset by the circumstances of the arrest of two of their classmates, which took place right in the classroom.
Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins stated during a Siskiyou Union High School board meeting on the day of the arrests that the goal of the operation was not to get kids in trouble, but rather to identify adults who were supplying them with illegal substances.
Mount Shasta Police Chief Parish Cross also spoke at the meeting. “Every once in a while, we are going to flex our muscles. Students get a sense of arrogance when they are able to get away with this type of behavior for a while... The arresting officers were not aggressive, but we wanted to make a statement... what these kids were engaged in was inappropriate and unhealthy.”
“It was humiliating for them,” said one senior. “I don’t really think it was necessary. They could have called [the students] to the office and arrested them there. They didn’t have to do it the way they did.”
Another student said, “I guess if you’re going to be doing that stuff, you gotta think you might get caught. Maybe you don’t think you’re going to get arrested at school, but that’s how it happened.”
The students expressed a wide range of opinions about whether they think drugs are a problem at MSHS.
“I don’t see what the big deal is. I don’t think drugs are a problem at all,” said one.
“It’s not hard to tell that lots of kids smoke,” said another. “Of course [drug sales] happen. It happens all the time. I don’t think we needed a narc to come in to find that out... but I guess they got what they wanted... they got that council lady.”
Many students mentioned Katrina Howard, the newest member of Mount Shasta’s City Council, who was among those arrested on drug sales charges. Task Force officers reported the discovery of 34 pounds of marijuana in Howard’s home during her Jan. 14 arrest.
“I can’t believe [Howard] had that much weed,” said one boy. “I mean, if kids got arrested for selling or whatever, I’m glad they arrested her too.”
Students disagreed about whether they think the operation will change things at MSHS.
“Nope. It’s not going to change anything,” said one boy. “People are just going to be more careful who they get weed from.”
“I don’t think [smoking pot] is worth it,” said a girl. “I feel bad for [the kids who were arrested]... this whole thing scared me out of [wanting to smoke pot].”
Although the students concentrated on marijuana use and sales, Assistant District Attorney Christine Winte pointed out that while pot seemed to be the most prevalent drug at MSHS, the undercover officer also discovered use of ecstacy and psilocybin mushrooms by students.
Ecstacy is a derivative of methamphetamines, Winte said, and is dangerous because it can be deadly on its first use. Psilocybin mushrooms are hallucinogenic, and users only need .01 grams to get an effect. “Our kids are dealing with this, and it’s scary,” Winte said.
Chief Cross explained that a similar undercover operation had been conducted at MSHS twice before – once when he was a student there, and again 10 years ago. “Hopefully [this operation] had a profound effect on those [students] who were heading down the wrong path,” he said.
