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Article published Dec 4, 2003
Solicitor to announce decision on drug bust

BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press

CHARLESTON -- Prosecutor Ralph Hoisington plans to announce today whether charges will be filed against police in a high school drug search where officers drew guns as students were ordered to sit in the hallway.The Nov. 5 search at Stratford High School in Goose Creek attracted national media attention and is the subject of a 200-page report by the State Law Enforcement Division.Hoisington, the prosecutor for Charleston and Berkeley counties, received that report last week and has scheduled a Thursday news conference at Goose Creek City Hall to announce his findings.Videotape from surveillance cameras showed students sitting on the floor while officers with guns drawn looked for drugs. Police checked 107 students and briefly restrained about a dozen.Fourteen officers and a drug dog took part in the sweep, which has left the bedroom community of 29,000 residents 20 miles northwest of Charleston divided over the police action.Some students and parents praised school officials for taking a tough stand on drugs. Others are angry about the force police used.Hoisington later asked SLED to investigate possible police misconduct in the sweep during which some students were handcuffed.School officials asked police in after receiving reports of marijuana sales on the campus. Police said the dog sniffed drug residue on 12 book bags but found no illegal narcotics. No one was arrested.Hoisington has said if the police actions were not justified, what officers did could be considered assault and battery. He said there is a fine line between what is justified and what might be considered too much force.The prosecutor announces his decision the same day the Rev. Jesse Jackson plans to visit neighboring North Charleston for what he said is a rally against police violence.The rally is in response to the drug sweep as well as last month's fatal shooting in North Charleston of a mentally ill man. Police said they had to fire to subdue the man, who stabbed an officer with a knife. The officer was wearing a protective vest and was not injured.SLED is investigating the incident and North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey asked the U.S. Justice Department for a separate investigation.