Overboard Drug Raid in a SC School

[Timmee]

I agree with the way the police handled the situation. They can't make judegements whether someone is armed based on age. I'd rather read that someone was shaken up over the situation, than read that someone was shot because the police assumed that the kids weren't armed.

[Webmaster]

I dont think there is any reason for a cop to have a drawn gun during this raid. At least not with the evidence presented. Did they arrest anyone? Was another weapons shown? Neither of those thing happened (as per the information I have now).

I dont have a problem with the search itself (with proper warrents or legal what-not).

But having a drawn weapon isnt called for. Even with the ultra-safe semi-autos we have now, there was no reason. A cop doesnt draw his gun while coming up to give me a speeding ticket - but the threat is there at the same time. Unless someone felt in danger, guns should have remained holstered.

As for the parents sueing for trauma... get over it. Yeesh. If thats the worst thing that happens in thier lives they will be lucky.

[Rob218]

Originally posted by Webmaster
Unless someone felt in danger, guns should have remained holstered.

See..There is ALWAYS I mean ALWAYS an element of danger when dealing with drugs. Just think if they're risking their lives to screw around with the dealers and trafficers...What have they got to lose?

[MantisMag]

hey rob. we were talking about this in sociology today and my professor was wondering: is your school predominantly black? i don't know what that has to do with anything except for the fact that he's black and old enough to have heard martin luther king and malcolm x speak.

[cphilip]

Its my understanding that a weapons threat was given in the tip. They were expecting a gang war of sorts that day. They expected weapons. So their protocol was to be ready for hostile fire. And so that would involve some officers "at the ready". But in fact there was a tip off and the threat never materialized. But the Police did not know that they had been tipped off and acted with the knowledge they previously had.

[cphilip]

Originally posted by MantisMag
hey rob. we were talking about this in sociology today and my professor was wondering: is your school predominantly black? i don't know what that has to do with anything except for the fact that he's black and old enough to have heard martin luther king and malcolm x speak.

Lets not even go there. Tell your sociology teacher to take the steriotyping of Southerners and Police elsewhere. It matters not realy if they are or not.

[taylor492]

Originally posted by Surreal
that's not unnecessary. they are doing their job. stop being pansys. maybe all these little gang banging retarded kids in high school will finally learn their lesson with a .45 right in their grill.

couldnt have said it better myself. these cops dont know if these kids are all cracked out carrying weapons. people have gotten too lax these days about drugs.

[bluemidget123]

people were arrested. if i am corret they were doing a RAID. and usually in RAIDS they enter with their guns drawn. its not a question of them harassing the kids its a question of were the guns going over board and i think not.

[bluemidget123]

lets up this i wanna hear more peoples opinions

[Torbo]

idk about anyone else's schools......but at my hs, yea drug use is pretty big.....but no violence arises from it, and there are no gangs. All it is is weed, and sometimes some X. so, illegal or not, it really doesnt interfere with anything. The kids who dont do it arnt exposed to it.

[Kitheril]

There seems to be a divison between the two sides. From a knowledgable view, I would have to agree with Rob. As a civilian who has had worked with authorities on growing drug spreads throughout school, there is often an "element of danger". Many of you fail to recognize that with drugs, there is often weapons. Drugs are high profit items, from weed to X. Many pushers are not willing to simply hand over hundreds, perhaps thousands in merchandise. Authorities or not, some members of drug circles are willing to kill for what they push.
In acknowledging that, how can any of you say that the police were not justified in drawing arms? It was not you with your life on the line, so to speak. And please don't say they weren't in danger, any time you deal with drugs in a raid sense, there is always danger. I have done some work/research with Vancouver schools, and drugs/weapons are highly correlated together, due to many drug pushers being linked to certain groups (for those that live in the area, you will know which groups I refer to).
Anyways, in short, the police were justified due to possible weapon threats. You mistaken the sensitivity of children presently, this would hardly faze most children in a city setting. Thank you.

[Sir_Brass]

Originally posted by robertjuric
Want to keep kids off drugs?? Ill tell you the secret.

Let them do it. Let them f up once, and they'll see for themselves how stupid it is. If you dont let kids experience things they are just going to be curious.

WRONG! That's the best way to totally screw up your life so bad that there's no going back. I personally saw this happen recently.

A few weeks back, the cops were called to the campus by campus safety b/c of a suspected drug trafficing across state lines, and the suspects were students here. Police raided the dorm rooms and came up with about $8000 worth of weed and shrooms. Now, I'm on the Student Judicial Board, and naturally, the 3 students appealed the sanctions leveled against them by the school. I saw 3 kids, freshman, who were regular drug users, get caught and face not ONLY Class II and Class III felony drug charges (class II is what Manslaughter is classified as, btw), and now whenever they get out of prison (one will for certain, as he was the dealer, and the DA is going after him hard. the other two were just users, mainly) they now will have expulsion from this school on their transcripts as well. That kills their chances of getting into a good college again, let alone get the careers they had originally dreamed of.

No, letting them get caught is a BAD idea. Prevent them from becoming users in the first place!

Parents: keep your kids out of contact with others you consider to be bad influences. The kid won't even start if he's deprived of contact information b/c he's not allowed to associate with the wrong crowd. Also, keep track of what your kids are doing. Strong parental support and discipline where needed will keep them off of drugs in most cases. Don't be afraid to give out some tough love. Remember, you're not supposed to be your kid's best friend, but rather his/her PARENT. Do your job to the best of your ability. Don't wait around till they get into a situation like the 3 kids here at ERAU got into and now have their lives potentially ruined forever at such a young age b/c they did something so amazingly stupid.

[Rob218]

That's a perfect example of what happens. In a sense you can take the cigarette industries motto, "Get 'em while their young" approach on this. If you catch and stop them from doing this crap when they are young, the chances of them doing it are much lower than if you hadn't done anything in the first place.

[Sir_Brass]

they WERE young! Don't let 'em make the mistake in the first place! It's NOT worth the consequences. ONe of the guys will be doing some SERIOUS prison time for what he did. This, at such a young age, it's tragic. Don't let them mess up in the first place. Don't let them fall afoul of the law in the first place! It's not worth the crap they'll be going through. And for some, if not all 3 of those kids, they're lives will forever be ruined b.c they did such a stupid thing.

The consequences they'll face from felony drug convictionsis TOO HIGH to be an object lesson.

They were caught when they were young. Now look at them: their lives are ruined.

[lopxtc]

Hey all ... sorry to dig up an older post, but here is another chapter in this story;

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/01/05/school.drug.raid.ap/index.html

Aaron