# High School..drugs..cops...on the floor! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 8, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015 "2003-11-08T02:10:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/1 "2003-11-08T02:10:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Surveillance video from Stratford High School in Goose Creek shows 14 officers, some with guns drawn, ordering students to lie the ground as police searched for marijuana. Students who didn’t comply with the orders quickly enough were reportedly handcuffed. [http://www.ksat.com/news/2620644/detail.html](http://www.ksat.com/news/2620644/detail.html) So cops can now bust into a school…in session…guns drawn and treat the students as drug suspects? Why do I smell Asscroft in this? ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/2 "2003-11-08T02:13:48Z")
It’s nothing new. Stuff like this has been happening since the seventies. Cops have more rights than you do. Schoolchildren have fewer rights than you do. Business as usual. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/3 "2003-11-08T02:16:27Z")
Just one cite for when cops have burst into a school while in session, with guns drawn and ordered students to the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/4 "2003-11-08T02:17:30Z")
Holy crap. . . I completely disagree with this kind of crap. Who the hell ordered this kind of thing, and who the hell authorized it? Without solid suspicion or even a friggin’ warrant? Tripler The ACLU ought to have a field day with this one. . . ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/5 "2003-11-08T02:18:05Z")
How about a decent reason for why the attorney general would be involved for a change, Reeder? ---
**Author:** ![TVAA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TVAA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVAA)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/6 "2003-11-08T02:24:45Z")
What I find amusing is the claim that this was done to protect the students. Having fourteen cops burst into a school hallway with drawn and (presumably) loaded guns doesn’t seem much like a recipe for safety to me. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/7 "2003-11-08T02:26:54Z")
What’s the big deal? Schools and guns have a long history! I remember another case where the police went into a school with guns drawn…or wait a second. Those were students that went into the school with guns drawn. I’d be pissed at George McCrackSmokin the principal, for allowing a group of armed men into my school. I think guns just don’t belong in schools. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/8 "2003-11-08T02:31:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by asterion \* > \*\*How about a decent reason for why the attorney general would be involved for a change, Reeder? \*\* Not so much that he ordered it or anything. But he sure as hell has created the atmosphere where something like this can happen. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/9 "2003-11-08T02:49:40Z")
This is unforgiveable. They didn’t even find a damn thing, to add insult to injury. But if they did it would still be unforgiveable. If there are some bad apples, find out who they are through ethical investigative techniques, and discipline them appropriately. But to rush in scaring the shit outta all students with loaded guns and loud barking dogs without discrimminating between those suspected guily and those who are not disturbs me in a serious fuckin’ way. Great way to instill in kids a sense of trust and respect for authority and law enforcement guys :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/10 "2003-11-08T02:58:31Z")
Be still, my beating heart! For the barest portion of a moment, I thought **Reeder** had opened a thread that didn’t attempt to blame one of the world’s problems on the current U.S. Administration. I should have known better. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/11 "2003-11-08T03:04:26Z")
again. One cite for when this happened before. That’s all I ask…one cite. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/12 "2003-11-08T03:20:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > Not so much that he ordered it or anything. But he sure as hell has created the atmosphere where something like this can happen. Ashcroft’s parents are complicit in this. Not so much that they ordered this or anything, but they sure as hell created the atmosphere that could produce a child that could be tenuously linked to something like this happening. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/13 "2003-11-08T03:29:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*Why do I smell Asscroft in this? \*\* Because you snorted anti-freeze and it turned you into a paranoid delusional? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/14 "2003-11-08T03:33:23Z")
I love it when the right wingers come out and display how intelligent they are. Insults and name calling are their forte. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/15 "2003-11-08T03:38:08Z")
> [@](#): > > The staff of the Goose Creek Police Department are committed to: > > - Developing and promoting exemplary personal character, professional integrity and a sense of honorable service. > - Establishing peaceful neighborhoods by providing law enforcement and building vital, trust-based relationships. Their somewhat longer [mission statement](http://www.cityofgoosecreek.com/cities/GooseCreekSC/docs/UploadedPages/police.htm) includes this gem: > [@](#): > > Promote stability in the community by commending those who abide by the law, supporting the family unit and building goodwill with those we serve; ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/16 "2003-11-08T03:46:58Z")
Q: When did I become a right winger? A: Apparently when I didn’t buy into **Reeder** ’s delusion that John Ashcroft is somehow responsible for this. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/17 "2003-11-08T03:51:49Z")
It happens all to often, perhaps not with the Gestapo overtones of the raid on the South Carolina school, but all too often. Even in my little Mid-Western town it happened just last year. All the students in the high school were herded into a unscheduled assembly and the whole school was dog searched. Nothing was found but not a few students and faculty were vocally angry about being threatened with arrest if they left the gymnasium. This sort of thing is the direct result of overly zealous police and weak and fearful school leadership. The result of all this was that a bunch of young kids were even more alienated and more convinced that the school authorities and police authorities had no respect for their dignity and that the rules that they were taught protected everyone did no apply to them. You know that this sort of thing and the resulting mind set is a big part of why O.J. Simpson is playing golf in Florida, don’t you? Just why our friend sees the hand of the Attorney General in all this is another one of life’s mysteries. Nonetheless, it happens and it ought not to. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/18 "2003-11-08T04:11:54Z")
> [@](#): > > All the students in the high school were herded into a unscheduled assembly and the whole school was dog searched. But not with **drawn guns** , SG. Sure, cops raid high schools all the time, but not by barking orders at the kids to “assume the position” with guns drawn, and slapping them in handcuffs if they don’t “assume the position” fast enough. Did you read the article? Here’s another version. [http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/11/07/school.raid/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/11/07/school.raid/index.html) > [@](#): > > On Wednesday, 14 officers went to the school “and assumed strategic positions,” he said. > > Within 30 seconds, officers had moved to “safely secure the 107 students who were in that hallway,” Aarons said. “During that time some of the officers did unholster in a down-ready position, so that they would be able to respond if the situation became violent.” > > \< snip \> > > Aarons said “12 to 14 students” were placed in handcuffs or plastic flexcuffs “due to their failure to respond to repeated police instructions to get on their knees with their hands on their heads,” after one of the lieutenants explained to the students what was going on. This was a blitz, an invasion. Kids were in the hallways minding their own business when cops suddenly burst in–with guns unholstered–and started shouting orders to “get down and keep your hands in sight”. I’ve been sitting here working my way through about four pages of Google hits for “police raid high school drugs”, and so far all the stories have involved quiet lockdowns while the cops search methodically with drug dogs. Guns are not mentioned. The only story I found so far that mentions guns, in which a teen was shot, took place during a raid at someone’s home. [http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/087/shotinraid.shtml](http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/087/shotinraid.shtml) > [@](#): > > Unarmed Boy Shot in Drug Raid 4/16/99 > > An unarmed fifteen year-old boy was shot from behind, just below the hip on Tuesday (4/13) as police entered a Concord, North Carolina home at approximately 5:00pm to search for drugs. The boy, Thomas Edwards Jr., is a neighbor who was visiting the home to play video games. > > Edwards told reporters that he obeyed the officer’s order to get on his hands and knees, as did the other five children, all aged 13-17, who were in the home. It was while he was in that position, Edwards said, that he was shot just below the hip by officer Lennie Rivera. The bullet traveled straight through his buttock, and his injuries are not life-threatening. > > Edwards, a ninth grader at Concord High School, where he plays varsity football, is at the house nearly every day, playing video games with friends. The police search netted small amounts of marijuana and cocaine, none of which, apparently, belonged to any of the children. This was in 1999 and so cannot be blamed on Ashcroft. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/19 "2003-11-08T04:15:41Z")
It’s also, as you so noted, not in a school. In session. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/20 "2003-11-08T04:19:13Z")
> [@](#): > > “But he (Ashcroft) sure as hell has created the atmosphere where something like this can happen.” Anyone else picturing ol’ John running through the hall just prior blowing hallhits wif a giant splief and nervously cackling like a three legged prison goat? It was overzealousness on the part of a prinicipal (ex) and a county badge. Asscrafter, bad as he may be, won’t be reading about this crap till tomorrow. **Reeder** , it’s completely fucked up but dude, get a compass. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015.md?page=2)