Arlington Has A Drug Problem - From Middle School to High School to Our Community at Large

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was posted on AEM:

At the Drug Awareness program in September with the Yorktown Civic Assn, the school safety officer provided the following stats: Of the 68 drug arrests, 47% involved Yorktown students. Of 24 cases that involved distribution, 63% were committed by Yorktown students. Of the 19 cases that involved hard drugs, 52% of them were by Yorktown students. Those stats included numbers which combine numbers from all the middle schools and high schools

pp here. Yeah, that 68 drug arrests has to be over multiple years.

In June, APS said it was 18 total for the current year. Among ALL of the schools. https://www.arlnow.com/2017/06/01/acpd-18-drug-arrests-on-public-school-grounds-this-year/ Is suppose it's possible that there were 50 addition ones in the last four months, but I doubt it considering the summer months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was posted on AEM:

At the Drug Awareness program in September with the Yorktown Civic Assn, the school safety officer provided the following stats: Of the 68 drug arrests, 47% involved Yorktown students. Of 24 cases that involved distribution, 63% were committed by Yorktown students. Of the 19 cases that involved hard drugs, 52% of them were by Yorktown students. Those stats included numbers which combine numbers from all the middle schools and high schools

I saw this on AEM and wonder about the 68 drug arrests. Is that for the whole county -- as in 47% of drug arrests in Arlington involve Yorktown students? Or is it of the 68 drug-arrests taking place in Arlington county schools, 47% involve Yorktown students. Neither scenario is good, but I'd like to know which it is.

I think that was over like a three-year period, too. It wasn't 68 drug arrests in a single year. And you wonder if that was separate perps or mulitple charges on the same perp or what.

The SRO at Williamsburg said there were around 100 drug-related arrests in APS last year. He wasn't totally sure about that number though. But that makes me believe that 68 figure could be in one year. (Williamsburg had 2.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was posted on AEM:

At the Drug Awareness program in September with the Yorktown Civic Assn, the school safety officer provided the following stats: Of the 68 drug arrests, 47% involved Yorktown students. Of 24 cases that involved distribution, 63% were committed by Yorktown students. Of the 19 cases that involved hard drugs, 52% of them were by Yorktown students. Those stats included numbers which combine numbers from all the middle schools and high schools

I saw this on AEM and wonder about the 68 drug arrests. Is that for the whole county -- as in 47% of drug arrests in Arlington involve Yorktown students? Or is it of the 68 drug-arrests taking place in Arlington county schools, 47% involve Yorktown students. Neither scenario is good, but I'd like to know which it is.

I think that was over like a three-year period, too. It wasn't 68 drug arrests in a single year. And you wonder if that was separate perps or mulitple charges on the same perp or what.

I'm the PP -- even more reason to release the data. It makes it too easy to dismiss nebulous numbers as a scare tactic, which benefits no one. I've got an elementary kid zoned for Williamsburg/Yorktown and have heard a lot of non-specific talk about drug problems at both schools. Considering they are rezoning middle school boundaries, it would be helpful to see real data. Depending on what it shows, it might not be so bad to shake up the schools.

(I know, I know. Walkability. But it is worth considering.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was posted on AEM:

At the Drug Awareness program in September with the Yorktown Civic Assn, the school safety officer provided the following stats: Of the 68 drug arrests, 47% involved Yorktown students. Of 24 cases that involved distribution, 63% were committed by Yorktown students. Of the 19 cases that involved hard drugs, 52% of them were by Yorktown students. Those stats included numbers which combine numbers from all the middle schools and high schools

I saw this on AEM and wonder about the 68 drug arrests. Is that for the whole county -- as in 47% of drug arrests in Arlington involve Yorktown students? Or is it of the 68 drug-arrests taking place in Arlington county schools, 47% involve Yorktown students. Neither scenario is good, but I'd like to know which it is.

I think that was over like a three-year period, too. It wasn't 68 drug arrests in a single year. And you wonder if that was separate perps or mulitple charges on the same perp or what.

The SRO at Williamsburg said there were around 100 drug-related arrests in APS last year. He wasn't totally sure about that number though. But that makes me believe that 68 figure could be in one year. (Williamsburg had 2.)

As I linked too the ArlNow article earlier, on June 1, Arlington Police said there had been 18 drug rests in Arlington schools during the year. So, I don't know where the 100 comes from, much less the 68. So either the SRO didn't communicate something effectively, has incorrect information or was misunderstood. Because what the APD told the news media on June 1, the number was 18.

Agree there should probably be some sort of definitive community report.

[Anonymous]

Some stats from here might help put the actual numbers in perspective:

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/SecondChance-Brochures-English.pdf

There were 138 referrals by the courts from 2011-2015. And just 378 students total over that four-year period (including self-referrals and school-based referrals).

Half of all referrals were for marijuana and a quarter for alcohol.

So with that as a benchmark, the unanswered question is whether there's been a sharp uptick in the last couple of years.

But this doesn't really support the contention that there were 100 arrests last year or that there's some massive problem with opiates that's dominating pot and alcohol.

Facts, people. Let's try to base these conversations in them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some stats from here might help put the actual numbers in perspective:

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/SecondChance-Brochures-English.pdf

There were 138 referrals by the courts from 2011-2015. And just 378 students total over that four-year period (including self-referrals and school-based referrals).

Half of all referrals were for marijuana and a quarter for alcohol.

So with that as a benchmark, the unanswered question is whether there's been a sharp uptick in the last couple of years.

But this doesn't really support the contention that there were 100 arrests last year or that there's some massive problem with opiates that's dominating pot and alcohol.

Facts, people. Let's try to base these conversations in them.

Thanks for posting this, data is helpful in this discussion. I realize it may not capture all of the first-time offenders (or people on their second or more offense), but it's still a very good perspective on the magnitude of the problem.

[Anonymous]

It's pretty telling that some on DCUM think that Langley and Mclean, which are even richer, whiter and more privileged, don't have similar rates of drug and alcohol use. (Must be those super-motivated Asian kids setting good examples!) While I would love to see the arrest stats for FCPS, it could just be an indicator that the YHS community is actually trying to do something about it.

[Anonymous]

it's hard to deal in facts when you are given "facts". The "data" seems to be different depending on the source and how they want to spin it.

There are several "incidents" in schools that don't amount to "arrests" (lots of varied reasons - mom and dad being influential people is just one, kids going to second chance, etc.). And there are student "incidents" that happen off campus and APS may not report those b/c it didn't happen during school - even if it was APS students.

Point is data is skewed, as far as I can tell.

County-wide, the numbers are significantly, according to the police chief in that town hall video. That isn't school related, I know, but it certainly is community related (which is included in the title of this thread).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some stats from here might help put the actual numbers in perspective:

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/SecondChance-Brochures-English.pdf

There were 138 referrals by the courts from 2011-2015. And just 378 students total over that four-year period (including self-referrals and school-based referrals).

Half of all referrals were for marijuana and a quarter for alcohol.

So with that as a benchmark, the unanswered question is whether there's been a sharp uptick in the last couple of years.

But this doesn't really support the contention that there were 100 arrests last year or that there's some massive problem with opiates that's dominating pot and alcohol.

Facts, people. Let's try to base these conversations in them.

Thanks for posting this, data is helpful in this discussion. I realize it may not capture all of the first-time offenders (or people on their second or more offense), but it's still a very good perspective on the magnitude of the problem.

378 over a four-year period might validate the 100 per year claim, but the distinction between what was a court referral (i.e. the outcome of an "arrest") versus self-referral and school referral is critical. It does look like roughly 100 kids APS-wide end up on Second Chance for a variety of reasons, but only a small percentage of those are due to law enforcement intervention. This is an important point for all of the hyperventilation.

Remember, APS has almost 28,000 students, 13,000 of whom are in middle school or high school. 100 out of 13,000 is 0.76% of the secondary student student population participating in the drug redirection program, which I think is a decent proxy for the problem. Among the court referrals, that works out to about 0.25%.

I don't mean to minimize the problem, but I would prefer to temper the hysteria wherein people seem to be jumping to conclusions from incorrect or misunderstood information.

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure that the Second Chance link provides the full data. That program, I believe, only works with kids involved with marijuana and alcohol- no other drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure that the Second Chance link provides the full data. That program, I believe, only works with kids involved with marijuana and alcohol- no other drugs.

That's the problem with beliefs -- they're frequently wrong. I provided the link. It's only a couple of pages long and clearly stipulates that it includes marijuana, alcohol and "certain other substances."

Again, stop espousing your "beliefs." And stick to the facts. Please.

That said, it would be good if someone could demand some better facts from APS and ACPD.

[Anonymous]

Maybe the drug problem at Yorktown is getting better because the 20-30 students who were busted by the police at the powder puff football game at Jamestown elementary on Saturday afternoon (at 1pm) had only been drinking. Although at least one had to be taken to the hospital.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the drug problem at Yorktown is getting better because the 20-30 students who were busted by the police at the powder puff football game at Jamestown elementary on Saturday afternoon (at 1pm) had only been drinking. Although at least one had to be taken to the hospital.

I don't follow your way of thinking. Two dozen kids got busted so the drug problem is improving? What?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the drug problem at Yorktown is getting better because the 20-30 students who were busted by the police at the powder puff football game at Jamestown elementary on Saturday afternoon (at 1pm) had only been drinking. Although at least one had to be taken to the hospital.

I don't follow your way of thinking. Two dozen kids got busted so the drug problem is improving? What?

It's called sarcasm.
But to read my neighborhood listserv, you'd think this wasn't a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the drug problem at Yorktown is getting better because the 20-30 students who were busted by the police at the powder puff football game at Jamestown elementary on Saturday afternoon (at 1pm) had only been drinking. Although at least one had to be taken to the hospital.

I don't follow your way of thinking. Two dozen kids got busted so the drug problem is improving? What?

It's called sarcasm.
But to read my neighborhood listserv, you'd think this wasn't a problem.

Is it your normal approach to use sarcasm when discussing serious matters? If so, what childhood trauma made you that way?