STANFORD – It might have looked as though there was an emergency situation at Lincoln County High School last Friday afternoon but school officials said the random drug sweep that was conducted was a peaceful success after no drugs were found. 

The joint operation was overseen by the Stanford Police Department and included officers from several surrounding agencies, according to Lincoln County Regional Jail Chief Deputy and K9 handler Robin Jones. 

Jones and his K9 partner Django were one of seven other handler-K9 pairs that made up the K9 task force Friday. Teams from Boyle, Lincoln, Garrard and Mercer County participated in the random sweep of the inside and outside of the high school. 

While four K9 units and their handlers swept the parking lots outside of the high school, Jones said he and two other K9 teams – Stanford Police Officer Preston Middleton and K9 Nico and Boyle County Sheriff Derek Robbins and his K9 – conducted the search inside the school. 

The outside teams included Mercer County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Scott Elder and Deputy Sean Brown; Lancaster Drug Interdiction and K9 Officer Robbie Tudor; and Harrodsburg Police Officer Chris Booth. School Resource Officer Linda Cook assisted inside with the search, Jones said. 

“It was a great training opportunity and another way to show our zero tolerance for drugs,” Jones said. 

Jones said while a few K9’s did alert on some items inside the school, nothing illegal was found during the entire search.

“We had several dogs alert on things, mine being one of them, but nothing was found. They could’ve been around it or residue odor but nothing was actually found,” he said. 

The school was on lockdown for about an hour-and-a-half as teams made their way through the building. 

“It was very peaceful. No charges, no arrests,” he said. “All the dogs did very well. They did what they were trained to do.”

Jones said he and K9 Django, as well as Middleton and K9 Nico, have recently aided in searches in Mercer County and the multiple agencies worked well together on Friday. 

“It was a great joint operation,” he said. “Everything went smoothly. I consider it a successful operation because nothing was found.

Since nothing was found during the school search, Jones said law enforcement hid items for the dogs to find following the search so they could end the day on a positive note. 

LCHS Principal Mike Godbey put an end to rumors that have been circulating on social media stating that methamphetamine was found and students had been arrested. 

“I can tell you there was no meth found at the high school,” he said Wednesday. “That is the correct version of the story.” 

Godbey said it was a successful sweep and he was very pleased with the execution and fact that nothing was found. 

As far as notifying parents prior to and after a drug sweep, Godbey said the school has no obligation to do so. 

Jones said no notice is given prior to a drug sweep as to prevent anyone from being “tipped off” before a search.