Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jan 2004
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2004 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Tamar Lewin
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Goose+Creek

PRINCIPAL WHO INVITED POLICE TO SCHOOL FOR DRUG RAID QUITS

The principal who invited the police into a Goose Creek, S.C., high
school on Nov. 5 for a drug raid that included drawn guns and a
drug-sniffing dog has resigned.

In a statement released by the Berkeley County School District, the
principal, George McCrackin, said he "realized it is in the best
interest of Stratford High School and of my students for me to make a
change."

The early morning raid, which yielded no drugs, led to accusations of
excessive force and racism and has led to two federal lawsuits by
students asserting that the police action violated their
constitutional right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
The school is mostly white, but two-thirds of the 107 students caught
up in the raid are black.

The raid was conducted early in the morning, when most of those at the
school were black students who had arrived on the early bus. School
officials said they had conducted it at that time not as a matter of
racial discrimination but because they believed that drug-dealing was
taking place then. The police said their tactics were an appropriate
precaution, in case they found drug-dealing and violence at the school.

Videotape of the raid, taken from the school's surveillance cameras,
showed police officers pointing guns at students' heads, and other
students forced to kneel, face a wall or lie on the floor, while the
dog sniffed them. As these scenes were repeatedly shown on local and
national television, the public outcry rose.

The head of the state chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. called for Mr.
McCrackin's firing, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson led protests over the
raid. There have also been demonstrations in support of Mr. McCrackin
by many faculty members, letters to the editor and banners and posters
hung in the school.

Mr. McCrackin said on Monday that the continued pressure and
distraction arising from the raid had made it too difficult to lead
the school effectively. At his request, he will be reassigned within
the district. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake