- April 19, 2024
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Should school resource deputies be allowed to carry Tasers at Flagler County high and middle schools? The School Board sets the policy and did not come to a conclusion at its most recent workshop. Read that story by clicking here.
Sheriff Donald Fleming recommends the School Board allow Tasers for the safety of the deputies. In the video above, a student head-butts a Don Apperson, a school resource deputy, off screen. The punches thrown are visible. The student was arrested; click here to read that story.
The Sheriff’s Office supplies one deputy in Buddy Taylor and Indian Trails middle schools, and one each at Pathways Academy and Flagler Palm Coast and Matanzas high schools.
When an incident occurs at an elementary school in the county, deputies from the road respond, and they carry stun guns, Fleming said. So as of now, the high and middle schools are the only places where an incident would not have a stun gun as an available tool, and high schools are the most likely places to have a violent incident occur, Fleming said.
Fleming said deputies are well aware of what stun guns can do; each deputy is stunned and sprayed with pepper spray and Mace in a training to make sure they know what it feels like.
In the video below, Capt. Lynne Catoggio demonstrates what it looks like when a Taser trigger is pulled.
The School Board appeared to be sympathetic to officer safety. School Board member Colleen Conklin was concerned.
“I worry about the message we’re sending to students when, really, the message should be: ‘Trust me. I can help you,'" she said at the most recent School Board meeting.
