CLOUD STILL REMAINS

Drug raid rash, but not criminal. The U.S. Justice Department has concluded
that a guns-drawn drug raid at Charleston's Stratford High School by local
police was not a violation of the students' civil rights. But this doesn't
vindicate the obviously poor decision-making by the school's principal and
the Goose Creek Police Department. It only says the raid, in the eyes of the
law, wasn't criminal.

What happened on Nov. 5 was clearly inappropriate and shockingly excessive.
Fifteen Goose Creek officers burst into a Stratford hallway - some with guns
drawn - and ordered about 130 students to the floor. Eighteen students were
handcuffed. No drugs or weapons were found, and no arrests were made.

The Justice Department echoed an earlier ruling by S.C. Attorney General
Henry McMaster, who also found no prosecutable act. However, the same ruling
also noted the police's heavy-handed tactics probably created a needlessly
dangerous situation that day.

The principal and the police probably acted with the best of intentions. But
the duty of stopping the flow of drugs on campus should rarely - if ever -
require this degree of force. This was a high-risk, no reward strategy that
only strained relationships among students and their parents and the police
and the school system. It created fear and division when cooperation,
especially among students, has proven to be much more effective at
identifying those who are bringing drugs to school. All South Carolina
schools and law enforcement agencies should learn from this incident that
such raw, unrestrained police action is both inappropriate and ineffective
in this setting.