Saying that he was correcting a mistaken impression among some in the community McMahon said that the unnamed high school senior was in the middle of an altercation with officers when he was tased.
"He wasn't tased because he stole a piece of food," McMahon said. "He was tased because he was fighting a police officer. Because he was rolling on the floor with another police officer."
McMahon, who said he is a believer in having officers at schools, admitted he was disappointed to have the altercation occur during the first days of the new school year, but that in a review of the case (all cases in which force is used are automatically reviewed), he said that the officers acted correctly.
"I had no problem with what was done," McMahon said, adding that he had no hesitation in urging his officers to use tasers when appropriate. "We'll do that all day long, and that's the bottom line."
16 comments:
i wonder what the whole story is... why were the student and officer fighting? my first impression from this story is heavy handed police work, and a vision of officers strutting around a high school keeping the order. i might be mistaken?
I don't think you're mistaken. Of course McMahon neglected to align himself with the most outstanding evidence available: the cameras.
Reports were released yesterday that the cafeteria video cameras, supposedly installed to clearly identify those involved in suspect activities, didn't show the student committing any activity that led to him being tasered.
1. Get the police officers special training on de-escalating situations with troubled youths before they can be on duty in schools. They have to set an example on peaceful conflict resolution to all. Using painful force has no place in schools.
2. Ban tasers and pepper sprays from entering school buildings.
3. Provide training to cafeteria staff on how to handle disputes with children.
4. If this child had a medical condition that could have resulted in his death as a result of the use of a painful device, Middletown would have had a blot forever.
More information is needed and I realize this is a minor student.As a parent I want to know what this student did in the cafeteria that warranted wrestling on the floor with a security officer. To me it seems like a gross use of force but I don't know what happened.
I agree, it's possibly strutting & heavy-handedness. Nonetheless, how and why would a student end up "rolling on the floor" (as the Chief put it in the Press today) with an officer? Did you ever do this? I didn't, I have the sense not to. The student is the one responsible for getting into that situation.
I also wonder what the whole story is, but my first impression was, if the 17 year old was fighting and resisting then he probably deserved to be tasered.
School Resource Officers are already employed by the city of Middletown. Cops shouldn't have to go through the special training because we already have SROs. Why weren't they involved?
The school's video footage of the incident should be made public. The parents and taxpayers of Middletown NEED TO SEE FOR OURSELVES just what does it take for police officers to use physical force and weapons on our school children.----------------------- ----------No doubt, had the staff and police officers kept management of the situation within the realm of verbal persuasion (employing reason rather than threats), the boy would have remained verbal as well-- albeit "loud." --------------------------------- Without seeing the video footage, I very much doubt that, in the midst of the policemen's VERBAL PERSUASION EFFORTS, this big-bad student suddenly decided to start throwing punches. Hardly. I think it much more likely that the policemen -- desiring, as they say, to preserve "the safety of the approximately 400 other students" present -- moved in, swift and authoritative, reaching out, determined to manhandle the boy into submission---one way or the other. Subsequently, the police officers got what they were looking for: an opportunity to use their shiny, new Tasers.
I could be wrong, but let's PROVE IT, publicly, RELEASE THE VIDEO TAPE!
Do we have any resources (i.e. time) to do a more in depth story on this?
I also find it very troubling, and wonder if other de-escalation techniques could have been used.
If the quote "this is what we do all the time" is in its appropriate context, then somthing seems very wrong.
i'm commenting again as i'm finding this very troubling after re-reading the article. i would like McMahon to explain himself what he meant by those last sentences. these are not hardened criminals - they are high school KIDS. i understand that they might be just as big or bigger than the officers assigned. but given that a person is not fully mature until about 21, i wonder if this was just immaturity on the part of the kid. i guess i'm troubled by the comments from McMahon - as a citizen i demand respect by those whose salaries i contribute to. let's not create an atmosphere of 'us vs. them'. it does not benefit anyone, especially kids.
Nice how the eye is posting only anti taser comments
I have repeatedly tried to comment to have mine not posted; there are those out here who feel that the officers were within due diligence. There are good kids at school who need to be protected and should not have to put up with other combative students. I as a parent feel strongly that this student should take responsibility for his actions and the officers were acting accordingly to the situation. All too often bad behavior goes unchecked and in this instance interfering with a police officer is a crime and it was handled correctly. Had this "child" behaved so on a public street, shopping mall or traffic stop the same would have happened, thank you MP for a real world lesson.
horrendous! people die from being tased!
There are towns in this world--even in this country--where kids are well behaved, parents give a damn, schools aren't policed by taser-wielding cops, teachers are allowed to teach (and are trained in their disciplines, instead of crowd control and child management techniques), high schools aren't built to mimic prisons, and principals and superintendents have college degrees in something other than educational leadership. Sadly, Middletown isn't one of them.
Time to reset. Start over. From scratch.
How about students acting like students instead of impressing their friends. School should be for learning but at the same time the school needs to keep others safe.
Tired of blaming everyone but those who cause the issue to begin with. I guess stealing and create conflict is the officer problem. Again if he did not commit the crime and then resist leaving the lunch area none of this would have happened.
If this "child" chooses to act like this and do whatever he please, then he should be excluded from the general student population.
I am sure there were good teachers who saw him go down this path and tried to intervene, but not everyone can be saved. It comes down to personal choice. No one was ever tased when I went to school, but I sure wish some had been. Politicians only have more fodder because of this incident to point fingers. Both parties were in the wrong- the student and police. By this is what we do all the time statement, the officer is correct- that is what an officer is trained to do. Whether or not he should be in a school is another question, but after Columbine and students carrying drugs I would feel safer is a cop was in my child's school on a daily basis.
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