Many thanks to Anne for getting back to the list; please keep us up to date on
what you find!
A quick correction, though... the Pioneer Press reported that Minneapolis PD
does currently use tasers for its critical incident team, and is planning to
expand the use of tasers to their patrol by the end of this year; no word as
to whether or not they'd be used in Minneapolis Public Schools.
Interestingly enough, the same Pioneer Press article found that no other
department in the metro area had as many tasers or deployments as St. Paul
police department.
Erin Stojan
Dayton's Bluff
Anne Carroll <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
To respond to Erin Stojan's question and comment more broadly: No, the
School Board does not under our current contract with the St. Paul Police
Department (to provide School Resource Officers in our secondary schools)
have any authority over what tools/weapons they carry nor what they use on
whom and under what circumstances. Those are covered by protocols, training,
and rules for them as police officers in general, and additional training
associated with serving as SROs.
I have run already some questions about this through the superintendent's
office, and will ask more along the lines of the issues raised in the last
few days on this list and reported in the media. Of note, too, is the fact
that Mpls police officers do not carry tasers (though I am certainly NOT
suggesting they are in general a group that our police dept should model).
All this, then, takes me back to the issue of cops carrying guns, which I
think are even more ill-suited to school situations than tasers...but at the
same time I know they're also "standard issue" and also not being used on
our kids. So the circle comes back 'round and I remain unsatisfied with any
answer.
So I will do what I typically do in such a situation and ask more questions
before proceeding further. In the meantime, I would encourage people to
contact the office of Chief John Harrington (the SPPD web site lists
266-5588) or juvenile Commander Tim Lynch (website lists 266-5612 for
juvenile) to make them aware of your questions and concerns.
Thanks.
-- Anne Carroll, St. Paul School Board
------------------------------------------------------------
Anne R. Carroll
Carroll, Franck & Associates
Public Involvement, Strategic Planning, Communications
1357 Highland Parkway
St. Paul, MN 55116 USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
651-690-9162 School Board: 651-690-9156
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice." -- Martin Luther
King, Jr.
"...You will be more credible and you will be more powerful if you do not
separate the lives you live from the words you speak." -- Paul Wellstone
"A politician worries about the next election. A true states[wo]man worries
about the next generation, and children yet unborn." - e.e. cummings
------------------------------------------
Erin Stojan
Dayton's Bluff, Ward 7
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