- April 25, 2024
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For now, school resource deputies are not allowed to carry Tasers on Flagler school campuses.
Buddy Taylor Middle School Principal Winnie Oden led a presentation Sept. 20, along with Deputies Don Apperson, Zane Kelley and David O’Brien from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, to discuss whether Student Resource Deputies should be allowed to carry Tasers on Flagler County campuses.
No conclusions were reached.
Of 18 neighboring counties she spoke with while compiling data, 15 currently allow deputies to carry Tasers, Oden said.
Of the three that do not allow it — Baker, Duval and Volusia — one wants to but can’t due to funding issues.
“These are not cowboys out in the Wild West,” Oden said of deputies. “These are sworn law-enforcement officers.”
Tasers were pulled from Flagler schools in 2007, after one was deployed on an exceptional education student. More recently, a Matanzas High School student head-butted Apperson, the school’s deputy, causing Flagler County Sheriff Don Fleming to request the School Board reconsider its stance.
Kelley took the podium to read a transcript of the previous day’s juvenile court docket.
A total of 125 charges were filed Sept. 19, alone, he said, 40 of which were felonies. He listed the charges: lewd and lascivious conduct, battery, sexual battery involving a person under 12, and other charges.
“These are not the same kinds of children that we dealt with when I was in the school system,” he said.
But it’s not just students that deputies worry about, O’Brien added.
“We also come in contact with angry parents,” he said. “This is just another tool on our belt.”
He added that injuries resulting from Tasers would be so minor that they could probably return to school the same day if the rules allowed. Later, School Board member Colleen Conklin dissented, via conference call, citing reports that say Tasers could be lethal, or could damage developing brain cells.
“You trust us every day,” Apperson said, “to walk on your campus with a loaded (gun), our (baton) and pepper spray … We use every, every tool available to try to remain hands-free, hands-off.”
There is also a use-of-force board, he said, which examines every instance of force that occurs within the agency.
Although there have been no instances in the past four years in which school resource deputies had to deploy a stun gun, Superintendent Janet Valentine noted that it is the job of public officials to constantly reevaluate policy.
School Board member John Fischer added: “It could save lives. I would like to see (deputies) have as many tools as they can, to protect our children and to protect us.”
Conklin thought otherwise.
“I worry about the message we’re sending to students when, really, the message should be: ‘Trust me. I can help you.’”
“I would no more put a nurse in a school and take her thermometers, than I would put a police officer in a school and take away his tools,” Chairwoman Sue Dickinson said.
Future workshops will be held to resolve this issue.
CRIMES OF EDUCATION
Deputy Zane Kelley read statistics from arrests charged on Flagler campuses from 2008 to 2011. The breakdown was as follows:
Disorderly conduct 289
Bullying/Harassment 236
Battery 240
Assault and Threat 154
Contact Mike Cavaliere at [email protected].
