News-Record.com

FYI:

Pepper spray has been involved in at least 60 deaths nationwide.

Guns....well, you can guess.

It's funny that the guns that the SRO officers have always carried, have not been a concern.

I don't care if they carry sticks and stones. I just want the violence to stop.

The alternative is to shoot them or beat them with nightsticks.
You make the call.

What about the potential dangers of violent, unruly students?

No one is going to be tasered unless they are out of control and a danger to other people in the school. These aren't used on kids who talk in class or chew gum in the halls. We're talking violent thugs here. Don't forget: three GCS principals were hospitalized by students just last year.

A taser is no different than a gun, pepper spray, billy club or any other tool a police officer carries. Of course they have the potential to hurt people - but they wouldn't have to be used if these violent cretins wouldn't prey on their classmates and teachers.

If the good guys (i.e. the SROs) don't have the ability to use physical force, then the bad guys have control. Authority only works when it can be enforced. All the feel-good remedies the school board endorses - peer mediation, counseling, etc - only work if the unruly students are willing to accept them.

The safety of the vast majority of our students who just want to learn and don't bother anybody must come before the "rights" of a handful of mindless thugs. Unfortunately (and I'm not one of these knee-jerk anti-BOE, "Get Grier outta here" types, but they are wrong here), the school board and GCS administration seems more interested in coddling the trouble-makers and appeasing a few outspoken critics than they do in having safe schools.

Count me among those who don't mind the potential danger of the devices because they're so fed up with school misconduct.

I see your points. I, too, am outraged by the disorder in schools, especially the attacks on principals and teachers. The issue of gangs also is a growing concern. But I remain a bit uncomfortable about a weapon whose effects have not been exhaustively studied.
Some communities have stopped using Tasers on adults.

The danger at a school is not only from the students, but from disgruntled parents (adults), intruders (adults), and others (adults) who might intentionally or unintentionally wind up on campus with criminal intent (such as someone running from the police, etc.)
The police have a responsibility to protect those on school grounds and should have NO LESS tools than an officer on duty anywhere else in our community.

These numbers from the Sheriff's Department:

From May 2005 to April 2006 in only the middle schools served by the sheriff's SROs, there were 36 assaults.
Four of those attacked were administrators.
Three were law enforcement officers.

Among the weapons confiscated in those middle schools:
14 knives.
Two razors.
One set of brass knuckles.
And one BB gun.

In all 14 of the high schools and middle schools served by sheriff's deputies:

There were 124 assaults.
Fourteen administrators were attacked, eight law enforcement officers.
There were 45 weapons violations including 34 knives, four razors, three pellet guns, one can of pepper spray and one handgun.

Thanks for the info, Allen. Scary stuff.

Those numbers show the need for police officers to be properly equipped when working in schools. Like jaycee said, SROs should be just as well-equipped as any other cop on the beat.

This wouldn't be a controversy, had the school board not made it one. For some strange reason, the board of education seems hostile to law enforcement. Last year, the BOE turned down a Greensboro Police request to start a School Watch program (similar to the successful Neighborhood Watch programs we have in many communities). Shouldn't the people in charge of the schools have a little more respect for the men and women who protect our safety?

I agree. The opposition to the School Watch program makes absolutely no sense. It focuses on crime prevention, building relationships and community involvement. Deena Hayes, however, characterized it as an attempt to recruit "snitches." Go figure.

Allen, we've pretty exhaustively studied the effects of guns and knives, and the effects aren't that good. If, as I suspect you'd grant, police have an obligation to intevene in violent scenarios (an attack with a knife, say) with violence if necessary, aren't tasers self-evidently preferable to the other weapons they have available? Even if their effects aren't fully known?

Given Deena Hayes's history, she has reason to fear "snitches."

One last point on that issue:
If SROs were removed from those schools and deputies were called in during emergencies, they'd have Tasers.

The School Watch didn't make any sense to me, either. The whole idea is to build relationships between police and the people they serve. It's an approach that's been praised everywhere it's been tried. But the Guilford County School Board wouldn't even try it. "Nope, we're not going to work with the police," they said.

It wasn't just Deena Hayes either - she may have been the most vocal critic, but she alone doesn't have the power to make a decision for the whole board. The whole board deserves blame for this one.

That's why I don't put much stock in their "concerns" about tasers in schools. You say you are somewhat uncomfortable about them and I respect that - you seem like a reasonable, open-minded person. But when the school board says it has concerns, I can't help but believe it's just the same old "bash the cops" mentality we've seen from them in the past.

This school board deserves credit for doing some things well, but it's track record on school safety issues is deplorable. Every child deserves a safe place to go to school - safe schools shouldn't be limited upscale neighborhoods or private schools. Unfortunately, that too often is the case in Guilford County.

I could write a book on this. I suggest you spend a day in juvenile court. The numbers are much higher than Allen's figures when you go beyond just middle schools. This problem will only be resolved when our culture changes, and this has to begin at home and by putting politics aside and honestly facing some unpleasant realities about the root causes of the drastic increase in violent crimes occuring in schools. Everyone wants to blames someone else for political reasons when the truth will reveal itself in almost every case if you just come to court some time.