Pubdate: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 Source: State, The (SC) Copyright: 2003 The State Contact: http://www.thestate.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/426 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/goose+creek ARMED RAID AT STRATFORD HIGH WENT TOO FAR We Support the goal of a drug-free environment for the teen-agers studying in high schools around our state. We back the parents, educators and law enforcement officers who strive each day for an orderly, lawful and safe school environment. So there is no way we can back last week's armed incursion into Berkeley County's Stratford High School. If you think the word incursion represents hyperbole, then you have not seen the striking, videotaped images of Goose Creek police officers, guns drawn, prowling Stratford's main hall. One officer is plainly visible aiming the barrel of his gun directly at students. It was an extreme, unnecessary gesture, unwarranted by the principal's description of suspected drug activity in the area. It is fortunate for all the young people involved that a videotaping system was in use at the school on this particular day, as it clearly recorded a group of adults who were out of line. There were more than 100 young people in the school hallway. Common sense says some of them have never had anything to do with illegal drugs. But they and their peers will never forget the unfair taint that comes from being cuffed, forced to the floor and threatened with a gun at 6:45 in the morning. Some of these kids were probably just plain scared of what could happen - at the hands of the police, by the way, not at the hands of some as-yet-to-be-caught drug dealer. Concerns have been raised that this raid was racially motivated, and that question must be explored. The majority of the students targeted arrive on early buses that pick up in predominantly black neighborhoods. School administrators and police should not mete out discipline on these students any differently than they would teen-agers who drive themselves to school in a brand-new SUV. Anyone who thinks illegal drug use is confined to the economically disadvantaged, or to one racial group, is sadly mistaken. Subsequent statements by the police did not help their cause. They attempted to downplay the overzealous brandishing of guns. Two brothers who were searched - and found to have no drugs - told The Post and Courier that when the ordeal was over, police told students that innocent bystanders who felt aggrieved should blame students who bring illegal drugs to school. Apparently, these officers missed the part of character education that stresses that we are all responsible for our own behavior. Those who wear a badge are not exempt. Schools have the legal authority to search anyone who comes onto their property, as well as those persons' belongings and areas such as student lockers. These teen-agers who arrived at school on a bus certainly weren't going anywhere fast. They could have been searched without the excessive force employed. In addition, the search could have better targeted specific individuals whose actions had raised suspicions of drug sales or use. As it unfolded, this raid has undermined public and parental confidence in the ability of schools and law enforcement to exercise authority sensibly. Once lost, such confidence is difficult, if not impossible, to regain. That is too bad. Because now, more than ever, we need parents, educators and police working together to ensure a safe, drug-free environment for all our young people. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin