Police Raid for Drugs at a High School

[Semjaza]

[url]http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/07/national/main582492.shtml[/url]

[QUOTE]
(CBS) Gun-toting police burst into a South Carolina high school, ordering students to lie down in hall ways as they searched for drugs. The commando-style raid has parents questioning the wisdom of police tactics.

The raid occurred Wednesday at Stratford High School in Goose Creek, S.C. Surveillance video obtained by CBS Affiliate WCSC in Charleston shows the police waving their guns and searching lockers as students lie flat on their stomachs or sides.

The school's principal defends the dramatic sweep, caught on the school's surveillance tape. Police came into the school with guns at the ready, ordered all students to lie on the floor and then handcuffed anyone who apparently didn't comply quickly enough.

"We received reports from staff members and students that there was a lot of drug activity. Recently we busted a student for having over 300 plus prescription pills. The volume and the amount of marijuana coming into the school is unacceptable," said principal George McCrackin.

Police didn't find any criminals in the armed sweep, but they say K-9 dogs smelled drugs on a dozen backpacks. Goose Creek police and school administrators defend the draconian measures as necessary for crime prevention.

The parents of some students who were subjected to the sweep disagree.

"I was just upset knowing they had guns put to their head and a K9 was barking at them and about to bite somebody. It was awful," parent Latonia Simmons told WCSC.

The Post And Courier newspaper in Charleston reports the high school is one of the largest in the state with 2,760 students. It has an academic reputation as one of the Lowcountry's best.

The paper quoted Lt. Dave Aarons of the Goose Creek Police Department as saying that the suspected drug dealers appeared to be knowledgeable about where the school surveillance cameras were. He said he watched school surveillance tapes from four days that showed students congregating under cameras, periodically walking into a bathroom with different students and coming out moments later.

"They know where the cameras are. If they stand directly under them, the camera's don't look directly down,'' Aarons told the paper. [/QUOTE]

I was just wondering what people thought of this and their tactics. Surprisingly, I've not heard much about this despite its extremity... all that for weed.

[IMG]http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2003/11/07/image582497x.jpg[/IMG]

[Justin]

Seems a little bit harsh. I think they've busted more people in my school in one sweep without all that...

-Justin

[wrist cutter]

I'm not all that opposed to it.

I mean, if you aren't a drug dealer, you don't have anything to worry about as long as you just lie on the ground.

But if you are... sucks for you. If there were more of these going on around the country I think a few dealers might reconsider their professions.

[Semjaza]

Raids in and of themselves aren't so bad... but I wonder what I'd think or feel in that situation. Guys in what looks like riot gear bust into your school, put a gun to your head and yell at you while dogs go crazy? Part of me would wonder how legit the whole thing even was, despite the fact that I'd obviously comply.

Most kids in high school cannot even be tried as an adult... holding guns against their heads seems a bit excessive to me.

[::Ex-Soldier::]

I hate the idea of it. I would be pretty freaked out if that happened in my school. I guess it's for the better. And how do you know it was weed? They could have had many other drugs too.

[Semjaza]

I know that because that's what the article says. The lost art of reading? :p

[::Ex-Soldier::]

*cough* Musta missed or something.

It happens to the best of us, right? Hehehe.

*leaves*

[Baron Samedi]

Eh. I feel that it is acceptable at least, though perhaps a bit... harsh. However, drugs are a bad thing, and it needs to be stopped. I think it was a fair thing to happen, and there isn't much wrong with it.

They may have been a bit rough with their handling of the situation, but it should also scare the **** out of the students and perhaps stop them from doing it again/ ever.

[Transtic Nerve]

It happened at my HS when I was in 11th grade. We had sme Narcs and phone lines at the school were tapped... Our capus officer's daughter was arrested. It was really actually quite funny. It was a sting of 2 school sin our county.

[ChibiHorsewoman]

Worst thing that ever happened in my High School (I am so glad I'm out of school completely!) was we had this one guy who 'supossedly' had a hit-list and a picture of Hitler in his locker. And then someone had called saying he(the kid) had a bomb in the school and was going to use it. They evacuated the whole school and had us stand outside for like 45 minutes. Thankfully it was May or we would've froze our butts off.
As for this article, I think the whole search was a bit over the top, more like what they'll be doing in those new schools over in Iraq. I'd probably be scared [spoiler]shitless[/spoiler] if it happened to me.

[future girl]

I love it when the cops go from class to class checking for drugs and weapons in our school. Somehow we always know and the whole class is hiding their weed and chains in the teacher's filing cabinets. Ah, the joy of growing up in crappy neighborhoods lol. But our routine book bag checks are different from raids. I guess they are a bit extreme, but that also depends on what neighborhood the raid is being done. I'm pretty sure if it was done in my school a few teachers would be caught with drugs as well as a bunch of students. I wouldn't be so much of a shock either.

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]I think if that happened to me (if I weren't homeschooled that is), I'd probably be surprised and then pissed at having to lay on the ground while they search everything. That couldn't have been at all comfortable. But, since I [i]am[/i] homeschooled, that means I can have all the drugs I want and never get caught! :hippy:

As for my opinion, I don't really think it was wrong. If that's what it takes to stop drug use, so be it. I don't think they really needed to hold them at gunpoint the whole time, but whatever. Like wrist cutter said, if you don't have any drugs, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.[/color]

[Pagan]

The teachers at my school have alittle code that tells them to make us come in the hallway with our hands on our head and prepare for inspection. The code is really obvious but they do it anyway, I mean they say "Mister Black is in the building,I repeat Mister Black is in the building" and we pretty much know what that mean so we have about 5 mineuts to gets rid of anything we might have, some people eat in it while other throw it down drains and stuff. The police were I live go all out when doing their monthly check. They bring out the dogs, have you open your locker, set up the metal detectors, even do body checks if needed. I can't blame them though, they normally leave with bags full drugs and weapons. They kinda tricked the students though by having them sign a consent form most didn't read and are paying for it. I read my and had my lawyer go over it and come up with a better plan. The guns in the CBS story is a little drastic though, unless they believed that a student had a weapon and might use it if frightened.

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]They could have gotten the same results with measures that weren?t quite as extreme. There just seems too much room for error in that circumstance. What is a young kid freaked out because they had a gun waved at them and was accidentally shot?

It would have been just as easy and as effective for teachers to detain students within classrooms while the police officers searched cars and lockers. Then they could move on to the students while in their classrooms. It is a lot less threatening than utilizing Gestapo tactics?and lets face it, that is what they were Gestapo tactics used not necessarily to find drugs but to scare students away from bringing them to school.

If the drug problem has become so horrible in this school that this is their only resort, then the whole administration needs to be fired as well as most of the teachers. That is where the real problem probably rests.[/color]

[KarmaOfChaos]

[color=deeppink]
Well, aside from the fact that this happened right where I live (Goose Creek and Summerville are about 20-30 minutes away from North Charleston) which creeps me out...I agree that this was rather extreme.

Like Heaven's Cloud said, there were many other methods than scaring the students to death, that would have caused much less rucus, and probably wouldn't have gotten half of the unwanted press attention. The only reason I think they did it that way was probably because they wanted to scare the students, and GET press attention, to blow up the issue to an extent.

I guess in the end though, I have to agree with wrist cutter. As long as you're not into drugs you shouldn't be worried. ^-~

-Karma

{PS: No wonder we won against Stratford...they're all on drugs. Lol.}
[/color]

[Dan Rugh]

We had a check like this when I was in 11th grade, but it wasn't as scary as this one. Pretty much what they did was have the teachers lock us in the classrooms and not let anyone out. During the hour or so that we were locked in, the police and the dogs went around the halls sniffing lockers. I heard that they took the dogs into random classrooms and had them sniff the students themselves. They then went out to the parking lot and sniffed the students' cars. A few seniors got caught for having scales in their glove compartments and I believe some people got caught with drugs in their lockers.

I was in an Honors FST class at the time so I doubt anyone would've been caught in there. Heh. Well, we kinda had fun. One kid practiced his English term paper presentation in front of the class. We were locked in for about an hour over time so second period was non-existent that day.

[Harry]

I don't think it's that big of a deal. They found a dozen back packs with drugs and this will keep the drugs off campus atleast.

[Jaganshi]

My school has drug searches every now and then and only if they get a hint someone has drugs.But normally these drugs are just painkillers or other OTC drugs.They won't even let us have cough drops w/out a doctors note.I think that's a bit much but oh well.
When they do the searches they are always after school and w/no notice unless you heard by word of mouth.The last time they did one was about 2 months ago.They never check students.And with weapons my schools pretty liberal.They let me and some other people wear ankel lenght trench coats.My stepbrothers school wont them do that.
Well I'm rambling so I'll stop typing now.

[vegeta rocker]

I can understand the raid and everything but why make the kids lie down and point guns at them. I'm all for drug control but this seems a little weird.

It doesn't matter if it's just for weed, bust the idiots, but why this way?
What will end up hapening is the suburban mothers will cry out in ignorance and eventually raids won't be allowed at all. This will work against the police. I really believe an action like this causes more harm than good.

No one will remember,or care, what drugs they found. But everyone will quote the students on how terrified they were and how awful something like this happens in America.

They should bring back spanking! I don't care if it's high school or college.

[Brasil]

I know the raid looked violent, horrible, traumatic, scarring, emotionally damaging, and ill-advised, and apparently they found no solid evidence of any drugs, but please, [b][i]give the locker inspectors time.[/i][/b]

I'm [i]positive[/i] there are drugs in there. The dogs [i]smelled[/i] them! The school officials and authorities [i]told[/i] us! That's incontrovertible, undeniable, and outright irrefutable evidence of weapons of mass consumption!

Give the locker inspectors time. Please, for the safety of schools [i]everywhere[/i], let them search this high school in South Carolina.

We will find those doers of evil drugs...you have my solemn oath.












:rolleyes:

[Heaven's Cloud]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by PoisonTongue [/i]
[B]I know the raid looked violent, horrible, traumatic, scarring, emotionally damaging, and ill-advised, and apparently they found no solid evidence of any drugs, but please, [b][i]give the locker inspectors time.[/i][/b]
[/B][/QUOTE]

[color=indigo]I don?t think you understand the true seriousness of this situation PT. The police charged twelve people with possession of narcotics or paraphernalia (which can be anything from a bong to a paper clip molded into a roach clip), that is nearly 0.8% of the student body. I think that more than makes up for 20-30% of the student body that was emotionally or psychologically scarred by the incident. :p[/color]

[Brasil]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Heaven's Cloud [/i]
[B][color=indigo]I don?t think you understand the true seriousness of this situation PT. The police charged twelve people with possession of narcotics or paraphernalia (which can be anything from a bong to a paper clip molded into a roach clip), that is nearly 0.8% of the student body. I think that more than makes up for 20-30% of the student body that was emotionally or psychologically scarred by the incident. :p[/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

HC, you saucy fellow. ;)

I do indeed understand the graveness of the said situation. The equivalent of a SWAT team or greater busted down the school door, so to speak, and stuck firearms in teenager's faces. Not fun times at Ridgemont High. (<---"High" get it? LOL. :p).

So a few students take a hit off of a bong, so a few get high in the bathrooms. Maybe a few of them escape high school horrors by puffing the magic dragon between periods. Is that so wrong? Hehe.

Sure, the situation is horrible, but the irony is far, far more delicious, and makes for [i]great[/i] comedy. I look at things from a comedic satirist's viewpoint, forgive me. :D

HC, did you miss the jab at Bush in my first reply? :(

[Heaven's Cloud]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by PoisonTongue [/i]
[B]Sure, the situation is horrible, but the irony is far, far more delicious, and makes for [i]great[/i] comedy. I look at things from a comedic satirist's viewpoint, forgive me. :D

HC, did you miss the jab at Bush in my first reply? :( [/B][/QUOTE]


[color=indigo]I spent too much time in high school smoking pot and attempting to decipher the various symbolic connotations of Pink Floyd's ?Dark Side of the Moon? album to not find humor in your initial remark; that is why I replied with a similarly sarcastic jest. And yes, I caught the blatant G. Dubb reference, and I thought it was quite clever :)

Although I haven?t smoked pot for sometime I think Ben Harper captured my opinion best when he sang:

My choice is what I choose to do
And if I'm causing no harm
It shouldn't bother you
Your choice is who you choose to be
And if your causin' no harm
Then you're alright with me
If you don't like my fire
Then don't come around
Cause I'm gonna burn one down

So I guess what I am trying to say is though I don?t condone drug use, especially at school (how stupid can ya get?), I think that waving a loaded gun at a scared, frightened, impressionable teenager is infinitely more stupid and dangerous. My younger sister is still in high school and if I heard that a police officer pointed a gun at my sister's head because they expected she may be harboring some "gonge" I think I may be prompted to send them a concerned mail-bomb...[/color]

[Brasil]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Heaven's Cloud [/i]
[color=indigo]I spent too much time in high school smoking pot and attempting to decipher the various symbolic connotations of Pink Floyd's ?Dark Side of the Moon? album to not find humor in your initial remark; that is why I replied with a similarly sarcastic jest. And yes, I caught the blatant G. Dubb reference, and I thought it was quite clever :)

So I guess what I am trying to say [b]is though I don?t condone drug use, especially at school (how stupid can ya get?), I think that waving a loaded gun at a scared, frightened, impressionable teenager is infinitely more stupid and dangerous. [/b] My younger sister is still in high school and if I heard that a police officer pointed a gun at my sister's head because they expected she may be harboring some "gonge" I think I may be prompted to send them a concerned mail-bomb...[/color][/QUOTE]

I've bolded the precise idea.

The way I see it, the more and more "raids" that go on in schools, especially heavy duty raids like this one, the more and more likely the chance of another Columbine.

I mean, think about it. Here are students who just went through a hellish experience with handguns pointed in their faces. Is that supposed to make things easier in school? Is that supposed to make things easier on coping in an already stressful environment?

I think not. It only serves to hurt and very likely scar them very badly...for the rest of their lives in some cases. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Columbine perpetrators were quite mentally unstable just from teasing and general social outcasting. Granted, they were very deranged individuals, but that combination of deranged individual mixed with simple, run-of-the-mill high school environment led to the worst school shooting the USA has ever seen.

This high school in South Carolina seemed to be the typical high school, apart from a higher drug use--wait...no. My old high school has turned into "Heroin High," and I'm damn sure more drugs are done than just that, so this South Carolina school [i]is[/i] just another run-of-the-mill, modern day high school, which means, students are probably teased, disgruntled, and have just been put through a very traumatic experience with firearms a foot away from their heads. I'm not saying one of them is going to massacre their classmates, but the situation is not unlike the danger of Columbine...at least, in my opinion.

[vegeta rocker]

I fail to see how middle america can bicker over civil rights and emotional scarring when kids are getting high in a haven like school.

How can parents be expected to feel their children are safe?
Yeah the raid was a bit extreme, but so is selling drugs in school.
We are just so used to it that we don't see the magnitude of the situation.

To us its everyday news. Oh another kid got busted....no big deal.
we never stop and think what is happening to us.