OFFICERS CLEARED IN DRUG RAID AT S.C. HIGH SCHOOL

CHARLESTON - A guns-drawn raid at a Goose Creek high school last year did
not violate civil rights laws, and the case is closed, the U.S. Justice
Department says.

"The evidence does not establish a prosecutable violation" of federal civil
rights laws, a Justice Department official said in a letter to Goose Creek
Police Chief Harvey Becker. The letter says "accordingly, we have closed our
investigation."

The Justice Department decision "is a great relief" meaning there will be no
criminal charges, Andy Savage, a lawyer for officers in the sweep, said.
Using a drug dog, police found no drugs or weapons in the Nov. 5 raid that
frightened children, provoked marches and lawsuits and brought national
media attention and the resignation of Stratford High School's longtime
principal. Fifteen officers entered Stratford's main hallway and ordered 130
students to the floor. They used plastic ties to handcuff 18 students.
School officials opened and searched 17 book bags police dogs reacted to.
S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster, the state's chief prosecutor,
criticized the tactics used as ill-suited for a school and said they created
a "dangerous tinderbox situation."

"Such raid tactics are well suited for a crackhouse but not a schoolhouse,"
McMaster said in July as he decided not to pursue charges. Still, school
officials had "probable cause" to conduct a search for drugs, he said. Civil
suits remain that allege students' constitutional rights were violated.
Settlement negotiations concerning those lawsuits recently broke down.