Drug education in the land of the free

[Torsten]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/11/07/sch...raid/index.html

Police, school district defend drug raid

Saturday, November 8, 2003 Posted: 0229 GMT

Police raid a high school for drugs in Goose Creek, South Carolina.

Some parents say what a high school principal in South Carolina did with the help of local police crossed the line. CNN's Wolf Blitzer explains

(CNN) -- After complaints from parents and students, police in Goose Creek, South Carolina, defended their decision Friday to send a team of officers, some with guns drawn, into a high school earlier this week for a drug raid that turned up no drugs.

The Berkeley School District north of Charleston, South Carolina, also defended its role in the incident, which has triggered outrage among some in the community.

Stratford High School students described Wednesday's incident as frightening.

"They would go put a gun up to them, push them against the wall, take their book bags and search them," Aaron Sims, 14, told CNN affiliate WCSC. "They just came up and got my friend, not even saying anything or what was going to happen. ... I was scared."

Sims said his mother was "a little angry," but his father understood and "thought it was necessary."

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Lt. Dave Aarons of the Goose Creek Police Department said the raid, the first the department has done at a school, followed a police investigation into drug activity that began after a student informed school staff about drug sales on school property.

Police monitored video from school surveillance cameras for several days and "observed consistent, organized drug activity," he said. "Students were posing as lookouts and concealing themselves from the cameras."

When the principal saw more of the same suspicious activity on the school surveillance video, he asked for the officers to respond, Aarons said.

On Wednesday, 14 officers went to the school "and assumed strategic positions," he said.

Within 30 seconds, officers had moved to "safely secure the 107 students who were in that hallway," Aarons said. "During that time some of the officers did unholster in a down-ready position, so that they would be able to respond if the situation became violent."

"The school also designated faculty to secure the hallway to keep other students from entering," Aarons said.

Anytime narcotics and money are involved he said there is "the reasonable assumption that weapons will be involved. ... Our primary concern was the safety of the students (and) everyone else involved."

'School had no knowledge that weapons would be drawn'

Aarons said "12 to 14 students" were placed in handcuffs or plastic flexcuffs "due to their failure to respond to repeated police instructions to get on their knees with their hands on their heads," after one of the lieutenants explained to the students what was going on.

A canine unit was brought in and the dog responded positively to 12 book bags, which were then searched by school officials, said David Barrow, secondary school supervisor for the Berkeley School District. But no drugs were found and no arrests were made.

"The school had no knowledge that weapons would be drawn," Barrow said. "We understand students' and parents' and the community's concerns about this particular search. We will work internally and with local law enforcement to be sure these issues are addressed."

Still, he said, the school was concerned about possible drug sales on campus, and believed action was necessary.

Jared Weeks, 14, told WCSC that police were aggressive.

"They kind of pushed us against the wall and started searching us," Weeks said. "I didn't think all that was called for."

Weeks said he was "kind of nervous," but not scared "because I didn't have anything to hide."

He said there are a lot of drugs in the school, but that this sort of raid was unnecessary. "There is certain people that you know sell drugs," he said. "They could have just searched those people."

Aarons said police believe the drug-dealing students were tipped off.

"I don't think it was an overreaction," he said of the raid. "I believe it was one tactical method by which we could safely approach the problem to ensure that everybody was safe."

He said the incident is being reviewed, as is every police operation.

[gerbil]

it had the principle on the news, saying he would do anything to keep the schools good reputation up. I'm glad some of the parents are going to sue or lay charges somehow.

How dare anybody come in and search people for whatever reason. At my old school, we were told that it was our 'home away from home' yet they continued to fuck us over in everyway possible.

Schools are jails these days, kids have little to no rights, it's all what the teacher thinks is right. What a bloody joke.

I bet these kids would have been told the same. 'you have the right to feel safe and should treat this place like you treat your own home'.

American officials really needs to get their heads out of their arses and realize that they are not helping people, but continually limiting their peoples rights.

[nabraxas]

hope aus isn't 10 years behind on this kind ov thing :mad:

[ 10. November 2003, 03:40: Message edited by: nabraxas ]

[gomaos]

My guess is just a couple of years.

That is, unless we get rid of our right-wing government.

[woof woof woof]

scary stuff man,..... humans are becomming more and more controlled units.

C H A O S T O O R D E R?!

wicked psy trance tunes pumping through kilowatts of sound system,... add party chems,...and rebel against system! Thump thump thump!

[Skulking Lurker]

 

quote:

---

My guess is just a couple of years.

 

That is, unless we get rid of our right-wing government.

 

---

Left wing , right wing ..... Same bird gomaos.

Changing govt won't make squat difference.

[narayan]

I goto a christian high school and we have a supposed open locker scheme where there are no doors or lockers on our lockers because it is a caring chrisitian environment where everyone trusts everyone else.

What a joke we have security camera's all over the school and undisclosed bag searches every once in a while.

We have pretty much no drug education because the school board doesn't think its right to teach students about such a taboo subject. But then we get told its ok to have a drink every now and then?

I'm soooooo glad that after my exams that'll be the last i'll ever see of that place.

[Skulking Lurker]

They say that your school days are the best time of your life.

They're wrong. I didn't care much for my catholic school upbringing either.

[faustus]

it seems that as the govt loses more and more control over its people, it goes to greater extremes to maintain order. what'll be next? military-like raids at dawn complete with light armoured vehicle, flash bangs and assault rifles? oh wait, it's already happened http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/...graid.1205.html

in times of fear it truly is strange how people are willing to sacrifice their rights. you could justify doing anything.

[Hagakure]

im one year out of school and god damn i love it.

school is just so constricting.

many jocks and drama queens i know miss it though. i think that pretty much says it all. :D

[gomaos]

Changing govt won't make squat difference.

I don't believe that. The present Howard Government does it's best to dismantle medicare, health care, help for poor students to study (non-existent by now) and social security.

For this they deserve the worst!

Under a labor Government this wouldn't be happening, it was the Howard Government who introduced the GST which cost me my job as a taxi driver, because not only are they one of the lowest-paid professions, they are now also double-taxed, which makes it slave-labour...

(for that reason I will also never vote for the democrats, because only because of their support could Howard pass the GST.)

I know that now Labor does not want to roll back the GST anymore, one reason more for me not to vote for them I vote for the Greens anyway.

And the Liberals are also definitely more anti-drug than labor, they want to continue persecuting drugusers forever.

Yes, a labor/Green Government would definitely be better than the so called "liberals"(the name of their party is pure cynicism).

[Skulking Lurker]

Man, you're out there, gomaos. Get past your issues, and make the most of the situation you're presented with. Fuck.

Anyway, my comment changing the govt won't make a difference was in reply to the post of nabraxas which you replied to. About law enforcement.

Nothing to do with the tripe of your last post,

previous to this.

[Skulking Lurker]

Sit on your arse, whinge and do nothin'.... get nothin'.

Millions of Australians are right now making the most of their self-opened opportunities, in conjunction with the favourable economic climate to get themselves comfortably wealthy. I'm not going to be left behind wallowing in shit simply because I 'couldn't be fucked'! Message to everyone.... Be fucked, and keep being fucked to build on something that will continually return to you everything you always wanted.

[gomaos]

yeah, skulking lurker, go on and praise the capitalist society.

Hallelujah!

Millions of Australians are right now making the most of their self-opened opportunities, in conjunction with the favourable economic climate to get themselves comfortably wealthy. I'm not going to be left behind wallowing in shit simply because I 'couldn't be fucked'!

favourable economic climate?

Is that because Howard sucks up the asses of Bush and that chinese Imperator just for mo money?

If there's "millions of australians making the most of their self-opened oppurtunities" they do so at the cost of the less fortunate.

Just the way fucking Howard wants it.

I can't believe you approve of that...

And then, is it "whinging" to critizise your government for being evil?

Other people might call it 'blows against the empire"

but I think I'm wasting my time here...

so you must be one who grabs and gets whatever he can regardless of fairness and the like...

So you want your luxurious yuppie-lifestyle on the cost of sick, disabled, umemployed, unemployables, simply poor people, youngsters who can't go to Uni because they can't afford the fees...

you'd rather see poor families without social security sleeping under bridges and wherever so you can dwell in luxury, just because fortune is on your side/

MAN THAT SUCKS!

"get rich or die trying"

but only if you're fucked in the head...

that's not the meaning of life....

[ 10. November 2003, 18:31: Message edited by: gomaos ]

[Skulking Lurker]

yeah, skulking lurker, go on and praise the capitalist society.

Hallelujah!

I'm not praising anything, merely observing and taking part in what I observe.

favourable economic climate?

Keeping up to date, and having a moderate understanding of economics would suggest so.

Is that because Howard sucks up the asses of Bush and that chinese Imperator just for mo money?

Not at all. Our domestic economy was cranking along, long before others started their upward turn. Any future monies thru trade can only provide more opportunities to those that want them.

If there's "millions of australians making the most of their self-opened oppurtunities" they do so at the cost of the less fortunate.

The 'less fortunate' make up a large proportion of those millions making a better go of it. Imagine if we still had the lack of opportunity of about 10-15 years ago, today.

And then, is it "whinging" to critizise your government for being evil?

Not at all. Whinging is when you critisize your circumstances without doing anything to shift your position to one that you can't critisize.

but I think I'm wasting my time here...

Yes.

so you must be one who grabs and gets whatever he can regardless of fairness and the like...

I work very hard. I'm glad to be in an economic system that enables me to be rewarded for such efforts. Nothin' better than incentive.

So you want your luxurious yuppie-lifestyle on the cost of sick, disabled, umemployed, unemployables, simply poor people, youngsters who can't go to Uni because they can't afford the fees...

No, I want a comfortable lifestyle, and the opportunity to even better that thru hard work. The more money I can make, the more money I can spend, the more money I can revolve around the community, the more money everyone else has, and so on. Easy.

you'd rather see poor families without social security sleeping under bridges and wherever so you can dwell in luxury, just because fortune is on your side/

Fortune is not on my side. I make of myself what I can. The better I, and everyone else can do, all contributes to your descriptive scene being less and less likely.

Oh, and by the way, I resent that inference of yours.

I believe you suck!

I will fight for your right to think of me however you wish.

[kitty]

...yep, good on them.

They are protecting the children from danger by running around with drawn guns...

[nabraxas]

favourable economic climate?

--what's favourable for one may not be for another.

do you understand why the interest rate was raised 1/4%?---to attempt to reduce the amount ov spending on credit, --which is what is largely propping up this virtual 3rd world economy.

Australians concerned about the future of their nation are worried by reports that the Australian government may sell Fraser Island. Or swap it to the likes of the IMF and World Bank in exchange for Australia's enormous national debt, which amounts to the same thing.

One of the first reports of such plans appeared in the Chicago Tribune way back in September 1987. It said:

"ESTES PARK, Colerado:- At the edge of the Rocky Mountain National Park last week, some of the world's most powerful bankers advanced a bold new strategy for dealing with environmental degradation in the Third World. Their plan is to use the immense debts owed by impoverished countries to pressure them into taking steps to conserve their threatened environments.

"Dubbed a "debt-for-nature-swap", the plan calls for outside forces to pay off parts of a targetted country's outstanding debts in exchange for concessions to protect natural regions...

"... Among those at the Colorado conference backing the new approach to Third World ecology were David Rockefeller of the chase Manhattan Bank and Edmund de Rothschild of the European banking empire."

Anyone surprised that Australia might be one of the "impoverished countries" or could be considered part of the "Third World" may like to check the figures quoted from the CIA Factbook in this report on Australia's monetary system.

After Mexico and Brazil Australia is, per head, the largest debtor nation on Earth!

As far back as June 1994 the Maryborough (Queensland) Chronicle reported that a conference was held on Fraser Island to privatise Australian National Parks. The excuse quoted was:

"Governments cannot meet the public's expectations and demands of recreation reserves, national parks and endangered species protection so it is time for the private sector to take a look...

"...The private sector can put dollars into park management provided there is a return on that investment."

On the 23rd of May 2000, Queensland Senator Len Harris issued a press release headed:

OVERSEAS DEBT FOR NATURAL HERITAGE SWAP OFFICIAL

The press release said in part:

"The cat is out of the world heritage bag - here comes the World Bank's debt swap for our so-called world heritage areas. These vast tracts of North Queensland are in the process of being officially valued by none other than the chairman of the Wet Tropics Management Authority, Tor Hundloe in conjunction with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Also an economist, Mr. Hundloe published his comments in the Courier Mail in April giving yet the strongest signs of the World Bank utilising our natural resources to help pay off our staggering $200 billion overseas debt. Entry fees are being proposed for visitors to areas defined as World Heritage or of high conservation and cultural heritage value...

"... Ten years ago former Queensland corruption inquiry head, Tony Fitzgerald was appointed as head of an inquiry into the future use of Fraser Island. For nearly a century responsible logging and mining practices had kept the local economy afloat providing quality building timber and high-value minerals from sand mining. This harvesting of natural resources had left the island's ecology and economy in such good shape it was readily accepted as a world heritage area.

"These commodities are now being imported at great cost to ordinary Australians. Hundloe was involved in the controversial listing, at the time preparing a valuation of the island's natural resources."

Feel free to phone senator Harris's office on 1800 638 820 to request the full copy of his press releases.

In Issue 26 of the National Interest newspaper, freedom campaigner Tony Pitt writes:

"The government is moving to sell our last assets of any value...

"... They plan to sell our world heritage areas to expunge part of the national debt they should never have incurred. Their fiscal management shows that the politicians and parties over the past 20 years have been incapable of managing our affairs in our best interests."

You may feel that the reports quoted above provide less than concrete evidence of the Australian government's intentions. That's true. But if you were considering commiting treason, wouldn't you want to keep your intentions secret?

Have you heard of any more likely government plans for finding the $200 billion plus needed to get Australia out of debt?

Paragraph One of the Australian Constitution prohibits the sale or dissolution of the Commonwealth. But already in 2002 we have witnessed the government attempting to declare Australia's offshore islands to be not part of Australia as far as refugees and asylum seekers are concerned. The same government had already sold off some of the common wealth of all Australians when it sold the profitable Commonwealth Bank and Telstra.

Will Fraser Island be next? Only time will tell.

Whilst the banks profit by creating credit, what happens to the borrowers?

In the case of the Australian government its debt has reached such a size that it can not pay off the loans as they fall due, and has to borrow more just to pay its interest bill ! By 1993/4 Australian governments were responsible for 46% of Australia's total external debt which itself is now US$222 billion according to the CIA Factbook.

This is why the government, desperate for money to pay the banks, increasingly taxes the people who can not escape it; why it sells commonwealth assets and enterprises previously owned by the people; why it bleats that it can no longer pay old age pensions to people it has been taxing for that very purpose since the 1940s; and why it continues to attract foreign investment long after our need for it has passed.

A formula for leading Australia inexorably into the clutches of the International Monetary Fund !

[ 11. November 2003, 10:06: Message edited by: nabraxas ]

[gomaos]

Oh, and by the way, I resent that inference of yours

What interference?

If you don't want people to read your post and answer to them if they wish so, why don't you simply pm certain members?

[Skulking Lurker]

 

quote:

---

What interference?

---

The inference that I'd rather see poor families without social security sleeping under bridges and wherever.

I have been close to that before, and could well be doing just that, right now, if I let it happen.

I like you gomaos. Try to focus your feistiness for some good.

Nice discussion.

[waterdragon]

can't believe that we haven't sold fraser island yet, someone fucked up. we've sold our manufacturing industry, most of the tourism industry, mining interests,roads and infrastrusture, souls, and on and on and on....

soon the forestry will be gone, then we'll be paying foreigners for the rain that falls, shit next thing you know australian troops will be doing the bidding of a war criminal with the full blessing of parliament.

[Thelema]

back onto the original topic, the police raided my highschool back in 1990.Normal SHS in WA. They'd been tipped off by the principal who'd been informed by ? that drug deals (MJ) were taking place in the school.

One day, without any students knowing, police came with bolt cutters and raided upper high school lockers and BAGS (kept outside of classrooms), at random or tipped off locations.

I remember thinking at the time..WTF??

They can actually DO that?

Looks like they can and will...

[cubent]

Skulking Lurker

 

Millions of Australians are right now making the most of their self-opened opportunities, in conjunction with the favourable economic climate to get themselves comfortably wealthy. I'm not going to be left behind wallowing in shit simply because I 'couldn't be fucked'! Message to everyone.... Be fucked, and keep being fucked to build on something that will continually return to you everything you always wanted.

As gamaos and nabraxas have tried to point out to you, this is complete rubbish and is the general line of bullshit that is fed to voters(sheep) to keep them toeing the line and being good little wage earners and continuing to line the pockets of corporations at the expense of the country and its people. The national debt of Australia and other capitalist countries is enormous and we just cant continue on with this idea of more consumption, more spending, more debt, working more hours for less money and a society driven by advertising which makes people want more and more but never have a chance to enjoy any of it. World economic collapse is getting very close and when the shit hits the fan you may want to reread your post and rethink your priorities.

Anyway good luck to you in your ambitions, just try to keep in mind that there is more to life than money and dont believe the propaganda that our so called leaders want us to believe. As Tim Leary said "think for yourself, question authority". In my younger days when i believed what politicians said without questioning it (it seems like another life now) I had similar opinions to yours so i know where you are coming from.

Anyway dont believe what myself or gamaos or nabraxas is saying, investigate it for yourself and find the truth for yourself.

[Guest electro]

re cops with guns in schools ... anybody ever see a bikie do that kind of shit .. yea the cops and bikies might have different values, but they both uphold their own laws, both carry guns and both use voilence..

the only difference i can see is that bikies dont start shit to prove their authority (ever been a 16 yr old male on the streets at night .. guess who the peeps with guns are trying to scare the shit out of you ...) AND there is no way they would subject innocent kids to that sort of thing.

millions of australians: i'll agree ... maybe 1 or 2 million .. maybe less ... (work out what % or the population controlls the wealth and land and you have your figure )

It IS possible to get ahead, but not by working harder or for anyone else...

you have to take calculated risks and make your OWN dollars if you want to get richer (otherwise you WILL be the poorer) ... mmm class divisions are most certainly alive and well.

also.. fuck the government..

all parties are as bad as the others, and if they arent, scare/smear campaignes will be run by the major parties to ensure that the smaller (possibly worthwhile) parties have no chance..

We live in a democracy, ie under a dictatorship controlled by the one body posing as two to give the appearance of choice,...

our society is ALL illusion of choice, Illusion of freedom, Direct Control through fear and by giving people nothing substantial to rebel against ... finish it off by smearing anyone who speaks out about it as a "bloody greenie (read hippy for which society shall have no respect for) or as an insane consipracy theorist ,...

or am i just an insane hippy ... lol

i'll get off my soapbox for now

[ 16. November 2003, 14:11: Message edited by: electro ]

[Skulking Lurker]

Agreed, agreed, and agreed....... adapt.

[chief23]

Selling off all our assests - what a fucking joke! And then we are supposed to support australian companies! Who the fuck are "the world bank"??? I can't even imagine how rich they are and what they do with their money.

Chief