GARDINER, Maine - Some parents in Gardiner are demanding answers following an incident last January in which a high school resource officer used a Taser on a student.
Specifically, they want to clarify when Tasers can be used on students, and how such events are reported. In recent years, the use of Tasers in schools has gained increased attention after some students have sustained serious injuries. The Gardiner incident came to light during a community forum Thursday night.
Terri Lynn Pulley says she heard about the Tasing incident at Gardiner High School from her daughter, who is a student there. "My daughter came home from school, and the look in her eyes when she told someone had been Tased at school - it surprised me as much as it surprised her."
Police say a school resource officer used a Taser to end a physical confrontation between two students. Pulley says she expected some sort of notification from the school that a Taser was used as a way to reassure parents that student safety was addressed. But that never happened, and she says a search for specific school policy on Tasers came up dry.
Pulley says she's not opposed to having Tasers in school. She just thinks there should be a clear policy around their use. "Most importantly to me, the policy should include a reporting system to the state, and a standard medical follow-up, because there's very little info on the effects of Tasing upon children."
"If you look at the literature, there's a lot of controversy about how safe the Taser is - its effect on adults," says Dr. John Kootz. "There's a group that says, 'Yes it's safe.' There's a group that says, 'We should never use this on anybody.' "
Dr. Kootz is a family physician who practices at Riverview Psychiatric Center. He says he's reviewed studies on the effects of Tasers and says they can cause serious injuries, even death. But Tasers have also been found, overall, to reduce injuries for both police and the people being subdued.
Gardiner Police Chief Jim Toman says that was the motivation to equip officers with Tasers about eight years ago - including the department's school resource officer.
"I can count on one hand, and using one or two fingers,- probably just one finger - the number of times this type of incident has occurred," Toman says. "This is not something that happens daily."
He says officers only use Tasers while arresting someone, as was the case involving the altercation at Gardiner High School, where one student was charged with disorderly conduct and refusing to submit to arrest.
Toman says school resource officer Marcus Niedner has extensive training, including annual Taser training and crisis intervention. He says the goal of the resource officer is to both protect student safety and form positive relationships.
But parent Colin Frey says his daughter is still confused about why the Taser was used. "She saw somebody getting Tased for what she saw as minor offense," Frey says. "She almost presented it as a cavalier use of force."
Frey says parents shouldn't have to learn about these incidents from their children. Terri Lynn Pulley is now spearheading an effort to establish school protocol for the use of Tasers, something she hopes the school board will consider.
But Board President Becky Fles questions whether a policy is necessary or fair to all involved. "No, we're not in the business of notifying parents every time a student is restrained," Fles says. "No. And do I feel we need to tell parents? No, it's really not anybody else's business."
Terri Lynn Pulley says her daughter has been afraid to go to school. She just wants more information to build trust and confidence in the school resource officer.
