Guns Drawn, No Drugs Found

Nothing like a little overzealousness on the part of law enforcement. In a scene reminiscent of something that would happen in the little town I live in, 14 officers raided a high school looking for drugs. During the raid 12 to 14 kids were restrained with plastic handcuffs, 3 officers drew their weapons, and no drugs were found.

Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the idea that the cops should be able to enter a public school and to search kids for illegal narcotics. And by no means do I expect them to be successful in every search.

The officers were there based on school officials’ suspicions of pot sales. If the cops had conducted a normal, reasonable search, then I would have been cheering this as a wonderful example of the school system and law enforcement working together trying to clean up the schools to make them safer for everyone.

But what justification could there be for drawing weapons in a hallway inside a school? There are no reports of weapons being found on any of the students. There are no reports of students getting violent or threatening the safety of the officers. It sounds more like a couple of cops with a John Wayne syndrome going on, probably overreacting to a kid with a fresh mouth (surprise that would be).

I'm going to have to watch this one, looking to see what the Solicitor in the county has to say. I'm guessing that unless there is absolutely clear cut, unavoidable evidence of illegalities on the part of the cops, he'll probably decline to press charges. But the tone of his report, and any suggestions of imprudent action by the officers, will be interesting to see. I think that it will tell us more about what really happened in that hallway than anything else.