TACTICS BETTER SUITED FOR USE IN BAGHDAD

As a former law enforcement officer, I am appalled at the manner in which
officers from the Goose Creek Police Department terrorized students during
the so-called drug raid at Stratford High.

As I watched the Special Forces-type tactics of the raid team, I could not
help thinking of how I, as a parent, would have felt and reacted if my son
had been involved in this senseless and illegal military-style invasion of
the school.

The S.C. Criminal Justice Academy goes to great lengths to ensure that all
graduates clearly understand the use of force and all aspects of the Fourth
Amendment. These officers knew better. I am confident that they were
trained properly.

Unfortunately, we taxpayers will have to pay the bill for the big judgment
that will surely be awarded in this case. I only wish that the officers
involved could be punished in criminal court and sent to jail under a
general-type terrorism law.

If these cowards want to use these military methods, maybe they all can
take a trip to Baghdad and use them where their tactics may be applauded -
not in our schools.

M. SAMUEL HARRIS

Simpsonville