US Dept. of Justice closes case following Goose Creek drug raid
(Charleston-AP) Aug. 20, 2004 - The United States Justice Department says agents who drew guns and ordered students to the floor during a school raid last year did not violate civil rights laws, no criminal charges will be filed and the case is closed.
A Justice Department letter to Goose Creek Police Chief Harvey Becker says the evidence does not establish a violation that can be prosecuted. The letter also says the investigation is closed. Civil lawsuits are still pending.
Andy Savage, a lawyer for offices being sued in wake of the raid, says the Justice Department's decision is a great relief. The officers will face no state or federal charges.
About 130 students were ordered to the floor during the raid last November at Stratford High School. Most of them were black. Fifteen officers used plastic ties to handcuff 18 students and school officials opened and searched 17 book bags using a drug dog. Police say dogs detected drug residue on 12 book bags, but officers found no drugs and arrested no one.
The raid frightened students, provoked marches and lawsuits and led to the resignation of the school's longtime principal.
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said last month that no crime occurred after he was asked to investigate by local prosecutor Ralph Hoisington.
Lonnie Randolph, Junior, president of the state conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, says if anyone else had disrupted the school the way the officers did they would have been charged with disrupting schools.
McMaster said the search was legal and its intent to stop drug activity in the school was important and legitimate. McMaster says the raid was warranted after security cameras caught drug deals in the hallway, but he says he hopes the police department and school officials have learned not to conduct such raids in this kind of dangerous location.
School officials and police have said the raid was an example of zero tolerance. They point to at least four cases of students bringing drugs to school.
Seventeen Stratford students sued in December, alleging Goose Creek police and school officials terrorized them during the raid. The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of 20 other students alleging violations of constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure. The suits were consolidated in March.
Among the defendants named are former Stratford High principal George McCrackin, who stepped down in January, Berkeley County school superintendent Chester Floyd, Goose Creek Police Chief Harvey Becker, Goose Creek Police Lt. Dave Aarons, the City of Goose Creek, the Goose Creek Police Department and the Berkeley County School District.
Lt. Aarons said after the raid that having guns drawn is a matter of officer safety, because weapons often accompany drug dealing.
The raid also prompted the Berkeley County School Board to approve new rules for conducting police searches in schools. The new rules will require school officials to make "a reasonable attempt" to contact students' parents before any interrogation. Searches must be limited to a specific area. No contact can occur between drug dogs and students.
updated 9:21am by Chris Rees