# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/101 "2003-11-12T00:53:53Z")
Throw the Constitution out for one moment. No. Never do that. Just focus on basic self-defense law. There was no reason for any of those cops to have their guns drawn. Drawing your gun takes very little time. There was no real threat. This was bored-let’s-scare-some-kids law enforcement. If going into a HS means guns drawn, all traffic stops certainly mean guns drawn. No cop would think about going near a domestic dispute without his shotgun racked. It’s bad enough when they walk up with their hands on their guns. Do we really want to go down this road? Not me. Milgram’s 68%? That’s an improvement. ---
**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 12, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/102 "2003-11-12T03:52:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*I’m not really seeing a problem here. And dammit, I’m a liberal! > > The cops _could_ have had reliable evidence that some kids were dealing dope in school. They could have had reliable information that said kids were often armed and had no compunction regarding the use of violence. They may also have had information that these kids had threatened violence against other students. Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt. There’s no evidence to suggest that any of your possible scenarios are true. If they had reliable info that kids were often armed and violent, don’t you think that evidence should have been released to the press? So the authorities release this frightening video tape, and they must know that it will likely create at least a little controversy, and they don’t mention that “students have been armed and used violence in the past and we must’ve therefore taken the necessary precautions”? Not a single word in the article or in the interviews on the video to suggest any evidence of students carrying weapons. Sure, the cop mentions that they had their guns drawn in case a student does in fact panic and decide to use a weapon that may be on his/her person in order to escape, but no mention of evidence of an actual armed student. > [@](#): > > That the officers didn’t find anything IS troubling, but that doesn’t mean their information was bad. Hell, one of the kids mave had a ‘bad feeling’ and told his compadres to come to school clean that day. Or one of the kids mave been tipped off that somebody ratted them out. Or they could simply have shown up on the wrong day. Or they did indeed have bad information. > > We don’t know enough to say which at the moment. \*\* BULLSHIT! If there is that info available it should be released to the media. > [@](#): > > _Mehitabel_ > And there was a specific threat by a student who said he’d bring a gun. Not from your link there wasn’t (unless I missed it). I did see the very last line: “After school ended Friday, one student threatened another and claimed to have a weapon.” No mention of a gun. And the fact that: - it was the very last line of the article and that nothing was really made of it, - it seems to have nothing to do with this raid at all - these are HS students we’re talking about it really doesn’t seem a relevant point here. OK, as re: the last point (since I’m definitely going to hear about this), that they are HS students means that I wouldn’t put it passed them to make BS threats to others about having weapons. When I was in 9th grade I got into a fight, and busted the kid’s nose (last fight of my life I might add, nice to go out on a win). While it was getting broken up, still quite in the heat of the moment the kid yelled at me “you think you won? I’m gonna come to your house with a fuckin’ baseball bat!”. Even if the weapon referenced in the article was a gun, so what? So a tough kid trying to scare another kid says something like “Yeah pussy wimp, I gotta gun at my house, whatcha gonna do, cry?”. Or the wimpy kid says to the bully “Don’t fuck with me anymore. I have gun. Don’t believe me, just keep it up”. Do they really have them? maybe, maybe not. But someone over hears this, or even reports it to the authorities who reports it to the media who flippantly tacks it on the end of an article for interest. If a guy says he has a gun, and then opens up his coat to show you it, now that’s a threat to take seriously. ---
**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 12, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/103 "2003-11-12T04:07:11Z")
And **spooje** , if you still don’t see the big deal, try to imagine yourself as one of the innocent HS students. You stay away from guns and violence and try to stick to your studies. One day the cops come rushing in to the hall with guns drawn screamin’ at everyone “Get your ass down on the floor!! NOW!! NOW!! NOW!! I SAID GET DOWN!!!”. Maybe you submissively get down, frightened out of your sox, and just wait it out. Or maybe you’re a bit of a wiseass, who feels victimized by the whole event and so you proudly stand up saying stuff like “Why should I get down, I’ve done nothing wrong?”, thus receiving a good hard tackle in the process. How would you feel? Pretty damn resentful of the authorites who you’ve always learned are there to protect you I’d imagine. The same way that black people are resentful of the cops for pulling them over on the highway because they look “suspicious”. If the cops had evidence of a kid who dealt drugs or had a gun then take him into custody, search his bag, search his room, car, whatever. Find the evidence and prosecute him. Evidence of many kids? same thing, each one individually. This raid is inexcuseable, and I’m shocked at the lack of outrage in the country in general towards it. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/104 "2003-11-12T07:35:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cityboy916 \* > \*\* But it’s not, it’s about kids suspected of posession of marijuana. Just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it can cause anybody harm, and doesn’t mean it should be reacted to with such force. \*\* If that’s all they were suspecting, then yes, I agree that it was over the line. If their info was just that some kids were in possesion of weed, there’s no need for the guns drawn OR to make the bust at school. I concede that point ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/105 "2003-11-12T07:42:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Moe \* > \*\*And **spooje** , if you still don’t see the big deal, try to imagine yourself as one of the innocent HS students. You stay away from guns and violence and try to stick to your studies. > > \*\* Sad to say, **Moe** , but I wasn’t one of the innocent kids in High School. I hung out with kids who were always in trouble with the law. And a lot of the kids who _weren’t_ in trouble with the law were still violent thugs. And this was a lot of years ago. No cops ever barged in with guns drawn (as far as I know), but it wouldn’t have suprised me much if they had. There were more than a few kids arrested on school grounds and led away in cuffs in my school days. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/106 "2003-11-12T07:52:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cerri \* > \*\*What I think is that our schoolchildren shouldn’t be treated like prisoners on a lockdown or the residents of your local crackhouse. I refuse to believe that can be considered a conducive environment to learning, and I defy you to show me differently. > > \*\* Random gunfire ain’t condusive to learning, either. Nor is fear of gang violence. Or having teachers being afraid to come to school. I’m sorry, but these things are a reality. I wish to God they weren’t. Pretending these things can’t happen in a school is counter-productive. If the pretending is done by school officials, it’s a sure-fire way to open yourself up to massive lawsuits. Lot’s of schools have already been sued. Hence, the precautions. If you’ve got a way to keep kids from bringing weapons to school and keep parents from filing lawsuits when violence erupts that doesn’t involve a security force presence, I’m all ears. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/107 "2003-11-12T08:59:27Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by spooje_ > **I’m sorry, but these things are a reality. I wish to God they weren’t. Pretending these things can’t happen in a school is counter-productive.** Those things are reality, spooje, but **not in this case**. All there was in this case was _suspicion_ based upon some stuff that the principal saw on his security monitors. Not based upon undercover agents makig drug buys from some of the students, not based upon drug dogs smelling narcotics in the hallway, not based upon police investigation or surveillance. There was no suspicion of weapons, nor was there any evidence of violence. And that’s why the police were out of line in **this case**. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by spooje_ > **If you’ve got a way to keep kids from bringing weapons to school and keep parents from filing lawsuits when violence erupts that doesn’t involve a security force presence, I’m all ears.** The only people bringing weapons into this school were the police. The only people who were violent in this school were the police. Police != school security. School security forces are specifically trained (or should be) in dealing with a student population, and the issues and behaviors which are typical within schools – which are quite different than in the general populace, especially the general criminal populace. (Even among juvenile criminals.) Having trained security in place in a school is a good idea, to protect students from troubles within and without. But I’m still awaiting the explanation of **any benefit** which might be derived from cops raiding a school and confronting students – including those who are not even _suspected_ of any crime – with weapons drawn down on them. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/108 "2003-11-12T10:33:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TeaElle \* > \*\*Those things are reality, spooje, but **not in this case**. All there was in this case was _suspicion_ based upon some stuff that the principal saw on his security monitors. \*\* Yes, but you were quoting my reply to **Ceri** , who was commenting on the larger issue of the security presence in schools overall. ---
**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 12, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/109 "2003-11-12T14:45:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*Sad to say, **Moe** , but I wasn’t one of the innocent kids in High School. I hung out with kids who were always in trouble with the law. And a lot of the kids who _weren’t_ in trouble with the law were still violent thugs. And this was a lot of years ago. > \*\* OK, but surely you can _imagine_. There _were_ innocent kids in your school, no? ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/110 "2003-11-12T15:12:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*Yes, but you were quoting my reply to **Ceri** , who was commenting on the larger issue of the security presence in schools overall. \*\* I don’t believe that **Cerri** was speaking on the larger issue, but I’d still love to see a better explanation of your rationale for stating that the Goose Creek incident was not, as you put it, that big a deal. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/111 "2003-11-12T15:12:51Z")
Yeah. Trust me, they would have liked to have seen some armed cops come in… ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/112 "2003-11-12T20:37:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*Random gunfire ain’t condusive to learning, either. Nor is fear of gang violence. Or having teachers being afraid to come to school. > > I’m sorry, but these things are a reality. I wish to God they weren’t. Pretending these things can’t happen in a school is counter-productive. If the pretending is done by school officials, it’s a sure-fire way to open yourself up to massive lawsuits. Lot’s of schools have already been sued. Hence, the precautions. > > If you’ve got a way to keep kids from bringing weapons to school and keep parents from filing lawsuits when violence erupts that doesn’t involve a security force presence, I’m all ears. \*\* 😕 I just don’t understand…how on earth can you be ok with this happening in our schools as a precedent? Here, in America, this is OK?!? You have a situation here where over 100 students were treated like violent criminals. ALL of them were treated like this, not just a certain few bad apples. How in the HELL do you allow your (hypothetical) good kid, your honor student who’s never gotten so much as a DETENTION to be forced to hit the floor with a gun drawn on him because he goes to school with a few punks?? How do you convince him that’s normal and ok when he comes to you scared witless and his grades starting to falter from the stress of trying to learn in that type of environment? Treat a child as if they’re a criminal, and chances are, they’ll turn out to be a criminal. If you teach children they’re not to be trusted at any time, they’ll have zero respect or trust for you, and that is a good portion of our problem in schools today. How does treating children like this help teach them respect for the law, or ANY authority, for that matter? I’m sorry, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. If this is honestly the direction life in America is heading, well…I don’t know anymore. It makes me very sad. Maybe I’m just being too idealistic here, but I don’t see how things like this can help the problems occuring in our schools. We need to figure out how to get the kids to trust us more, not less. There’s always a few bad apples in any school, I’d prefer not to see treating the entire bushel as if they were rotten become the operative solution. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/113 "2003-11-13T04:26:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > **Random gunfire ain’t condusive to learning, either. Nor is fear of gang violence. Or having teachers being afraid to come to school.** Pot has nothing to do with random gunfire. Pot has nothing to do with gang violence. Pot has nothing to do with teachers being afraid to come to school. I’m given to understand this police event was all about pot – why are you bringing in violence? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/114 "2003-11-13T08:49:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Anytime narcotics and money are involved he said there is “the reasonable assumption that weapons will be involved. … Our primary concern was the safety of the students (and) everyone else involved.” That is a quote from the police. And I can’t disagree with it. My experiences as an addict, which date back to through JR High, tell me that statemet is true. Those who deal and those who buy are sometimes armed. If they are dealing in school, then there is a possibility that somebody there was carrying. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/115 "2003-11-13T10:35:21Z")
Yes, there is a possibility that somebody there was carrying. Potheads, however, are not known as a dangerous bunch – if someone was carrying, it was likely not the kids who might’ve been arrested on the drug charges, it was probably the kids who were sick of being bullied by the wrestling team. However, any possibility of weapons in the school could’ve been confirmed or eliminated with a proper police investigation, something that by all evidence never happened. The possibility could’ve also been eliminated if this school had instituted random weapons checks or metal detectors before sending police into the hallways with guns drawn. Metal detectors in schools suck, but they are a hell of a lot less traumatizing than having a gun stuck in your face. Where there are drugs, there are weapons. It’s a good basis for police operations when the presence of drugs is confirmed, but the problem is that there was _no concrete evidence that there were any drugs to begin with_! It was all pretense. And you know what they say – an ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure. “Our primary concern was the safety of the students” sounds all fine and good, but it is belied by what happened. If Joe’s primary concern is Sally’s safety, Joe does not point a loaded gun at Sally’s head. Joe does not get in Sally’s face, screaming at her and ordering her to lay prone on the floor under threat of that loaded gun. Joe does not treat Sally, a stranger to him, as if she was a threat based on little more than stupid surveillance camera tricks that he had no evidence that Sally was even a part of. Whenever you hear police start justifying their very obviously unsafe behavior under the rubric of some generalized “safety” be very aware that this language stems from one place and one place only – the very real and present need to engage in high-level asscovering when it becomes clear that someone screwed up in a big, public way. The purpose of a raid is to surprise _suspects_ in order to take them into custody, especially when it’s necessary to prevent them from fleeing or destroying evidence. You don’t raid to investigate, you don’t raid to scare, shock or awe, you don’t raid to make a public show. You do it because there is no other good way to apprehend the criminals who are sought. In this case, the cops didn’t even know who the suspects were, or even if there were any suspects at all. How they were ever able to get a warrant for this action boggles my mind. It also boggles my mind that anyone would believe that there aren’t students from this school who are now completely devoid of any respect they may have ever held for the school administrators, for the police or anyone who tells them that school is a safe place for them to be. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/116 "2003-11-13T11:04:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TeaElle \* > **Yes, there is a possibility that somebody there was carrying. Potheads, however, are not known as a dangerous bunch – if someone was carrying, it was likely not the kids who might’ve been arrested on the drug charges, it was probably the kids who were sick of being bullied by the wrestling team.** True. But how would the cops know that it was just weed being dealt? From the link, it only seems that they saw of evidence of drug deals, but not the specipics of the drugs involved > [@](#): > > \*\* > However, any possibility of weapons in the school could’ve been confirmed or eliminated with a proper police investigation, something that by all evidence never happened…\*\* What tecniques? How could the police have determined ahead of time that no weapons were being carried? [quote] \*\* > [@](#): > > **The possibility could’ve also been eliminated if this school had instituted random weapons checks or metal detectors before sending police into the hallways with guns drawn. Metal detectors in schools suck, but they are a hell of a lot less traumatizing than having a gun stuck in your face…** Ah, but our friend **Ceri** does not agree with us on THAT point, and was most adamant about it. > [@](#): > > \*\* > Whenever you hear police start justifying their very obviously unsafe behavior under the rubric of some generalized “safety” be very aware that this language stems from one place and one place only – the very real and present need to engage in high-level asscovering when it becomes clear that someone screwed up in a big, public way…\*\* I don’t entirely agree. I agree that the phrase “for public safety” is BS. What they mean is " for the _Officer’s_ safety". And cops are always a little afraid of getting shot during a raid. Armed suspects tend to be a panicky sort. On the rest of your points, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/117 "2003-11-13T11:32:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*Ah, but our friend **Ceri** does not agree with us on THAT point, and was most adamant about it. > \*\* 😕 You’ve obviously completely misconstrued my point. I can’t say it surprises me, if you cannot understand why this is a big deal. What I said was: > [@](#): > > You only have to allow something once to have it become SOP. If there’s no stink made about this, and everyone ignores or okay’s it, why wouldn’t it eventually become SOP in our schools where drugs are suspect? Anything to fight the War on Drugs, after all. Zero Tolerance. Just Say No to the Reefer Madness! > > We already have armed guards and metal detectors, so why not go this extra step if “the people” don’t raise a stink about it. > > You know, that exact attitude is why we get our civil rights taken away and our civil liberties stomped on. We ask them to. We practically beg them to. As long as we’ll be safe. As if you could EVER possibly be entirely “safe”, whatever the hell that is anyways. When they go just one step further, people say “Well, as long as we’re safe.” How the hell are you safe when you have cops stormtrooping your kid’s high school with drawn guns? Now, how did you get that I disapprove of the use of metal detectors, from what I said? As for: > [@](#): > > And cops are always a little afraid of getting shot during a raid. Armed suspects tend to be a panicky sort. Um…perhaps you’ve missed the obvious point that these were 107 high school students trying to go about their day and maybe actually try to fucking learn something in an ineffectual, broken school system where no one respects or trusts them, not armed suspects in your local crackhouse. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/118 "2003-11-13T11:47:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cerri \* > \*\* > Now, how did you get that I disapprove of the use of metal detectors, from what I said? > > . \*\* You only have to allow something once to have it become SOP. If there’s no stink made about this, and everyone ignores or okay’s it, why wouldn’t it eventually become SOP in our schools where drugs are suspect? Anything to fight the War on Drugs, after all. Zero Tolerance. Just Say No to the Reefer Madness! We already have armed guards and metal detectors, so why not go this extra step if “the people” don’t raise a stink about it. [/quote] If I misconstued this, I apologize. But it does seem to me that you have lumped the metal detectors (sadly, needed, IMO) in with the ‘war on drugs’, ‘zero tolerance’ and ‘refer madness’( all dysmal, misguided failures). ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/119 "2003-11-13T11:48:58Z")
And I coded that horribly!!! I suck ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015/120 "2003-11-13T11:58:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cerri \* > \*\*Um…perhaps you’ve missed the obvious point that these were 107 high school students trying to go about their day and maybe actually try to fucking learn something in an ineffectual, broken school system where no one respects or trusts them, not armed suspects in your local crackhouse. \*\* OK, let’s get down to brass tacks. My only point, now, is that there is considerable evidence that some high schools are actually very dangerous places. Maybe not THIS one, because I don’t know. There are schools in my neck of the woods where I wouldn’t want to go into unarmed, especailly if I was a cop. There might be schools like that your area, I don’t know. It shouldn’t be that way, I agree. But it is for now. I, for one, will give the cops the benefit of the doubt as to whether they are right about having regards for their own safety. We cannot assume that it is safe simply because there are teenagers there. That’s all I’m sayi’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-drugs-cops-on-the-floor/212015.md?page=7)