Maryland School Board Member Wants to Suspend Taser Use
FREDERICK, Md. – A member of the Frederick County school board wants to hold off on the use of Tasers until more research is done on the equipment.
The board member, Daryl Boffman, voiced his concerns at the Nov. 28 meeting after a man subdued by police using a stun gun died earlier in the month. Earlier in the school year, a deputy used a Taser to restrain a student at Tuscarora High School.
Boffman argued that deputies have successfully patrolled schools for years with equipment other than stun guns.
However, the opposition, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said he would not send his officers into schools without all of their tools. He added that the nine resource officers carry the same equipment as other officers. This includes Tasers, batons, firearms and pepper spray.
Jenkins then showed the board items he and his deputies had confiscated from students, including a back pack with the words “kill cops” written on it, a pellet gun, a sawed-off shotgun and an 8-inch knife.
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