Birmingham School Superintendent Wants Security to Use Tasers on Students

Thursday, October 7, 2004 at 01:58PM
TheSpook

Birmingham school violence is up, and officials must do whatever it takes to maintain order, Superintendent Wayman B. Shiver said Tuesday in defending possible use of stun guns in schools. The stun gun delivers an incapacitating electrical jolt from as far away as 21 feet. The Taser brand gun is capable of delivering a 50,000-volt, 26-watt, .162-amp jolt. Shiver said because of gangs and drugs in city schools, student fights have become dangerously volatile. Each high school is assigned one police officer, known as a school resource officer, to control hundreds of students. Sometimes, he said, that isn't enough. Several SROs and school staff members have been injured while trying to break up fights, Shiver said.Several school board members attended the press conference. One of them, Virginia Volker, said she opposed the use of stun guns in school. She said they reminded her of the pre-civil rights era when blacks were shocked with cattle prods to stay out of white schools and other public places. [more ]

Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).