BUT MCMASTER LABELS POLICE ACTION 'INAPPROPRIATE'

No Charges In School Drug Raid

CHARLESTON - Characterizing police officers' conduct as improper but
not criminal, the state's attorney general will not file charges in a
high school drug raid in which guns were drawn and students ordered to
the floor.

"The tactics were good tactics for a crack house, a drug den or a
methamphetamine lab, but highly inappropriate tactics for a school
house," said S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster.

The decision follows months of reviewing videos, reports and other
information from the controversial Nov. 5 search at Stratford High
School in Goose Creek.

School officials did the right thing in confronting the drug problem,
but the way the plan was carried out was flawed and dangerous,
McMaster said.

The raid, which pushed the school and police department into the
national spotlight, led to two lawsuits and the resignation of
Stratford's principal, George McCrackin.

Berkeley County Superintendent Chester Floyd said in a statement
Friday that he could not comment on McMaster's decision because it was
directed toward the Goose Creek Police Department. He said he was
encouraged that McMaster did not fault the school.

"I have said from the beginning that I felt the intentions of both the
Stratford administration and the Goose Creek Police Department were
pure," he said.

McMaster's decision brought outcries from civil rights leaders.

"That is state-tolerated tyranny that leaves black people unprotected
and distrusting of the judicial system," the Rev. Jesse Jackson,
founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, said. The raid
was planned and targeted black children, Jackson said. "By not
punishing those who are involved, it creates an atmosphere of tolerance."

Jackson said the decision could lead to another protest march.

"There are two sacred institutions in our society - the church house
and the schoolhouse," state NAACP president Lonnie Randolph said.
McMaster "condoned as legal the invasion of one of these sacred places
- - the schoolhouse in Goose Creek," Randolph said.

Goose Creek Mayor Michael Heitzler said the city is continuing to
analyze and learn from the incident.

"Even in light of the attorney general's announcement, we have no
plans to abandon our efforts to address the concerns of our community
regarding this event," Heitzler said.

Goose Creek Police Chief Harvey Becker, who has not commented on the
raid, could not be reached Friday for comment.

School officials, suspecting that drugs were being sold at the school,
asked Goose Creek police to search it. Police stormed a school hallway
where they found 130 students, most of whom were black. Police and
school officials told the students to get on the floor. Officers and a
police dog searched 17 book bags but did not find any drugs.

But school and police officials had plenty of evidence to convince
them that drugs such as marijuana and cocaine were being sold at the
school, McMaster said. Four days worth of videotapes showed a person
going into a school restroom after posting lookouts in the hallway.

The tapes also showed others entering and exiting that restroom, he
said. The person, who has not been charged, also flashed rolls of $5
and $20 bills, said McMaster, adding that marijuana is often sold in
$5 and $20 bags. Knives and a loaded semiautomatic pistol had also
been found on school property, he said.

The plan for the raid was a good one but it took place in the wrong
location, he said. A dropped book or slammed door making a banging
noise could have resulted in a perilous reaction, the attorney general
said.

"One false move or sound could have led to gunfire, creating a
dangerous tinderbox type of situation."

McMaster began looking into the matter in December at the request of
Solicitor Ralph Hoisington. Along with the State Law Enforcement
Division Report, McMaster reviewed school and police videotapes and
numerous reports while conducting his legal analysis, he said.

Officials also analyzed charges - including assault, pointing and
presenting a firearm, lynching and misconduct in office - but could
not file based on their evidence, he said.

Ultimately, McMaster said, the marred raid has turned out to be a
teaching tool. Officers in training at the state's Criminal Justice
Academy can benefit from it, as well at others.

"It's an incident everyone can learn from."