Hmmm. Renee Has been strangely silent on the police and tasers. That's because I wanted to see what others had to say first.
I was quoted in the St. Paul paper a couple weeks ago about the police tasers. http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/10649984.htm I have the highest respect for our police and the tough job they have to do with limited resouces. Especially when the Legislature continues to cut back dollars for prevention and the police end up with more people and families in crisis. All I have ever been concerned about is thesafety of our officers and the safety of the people they come in contact with that may be in crisis. Tom Goldstein said: >Although I don't know if Renee Jenson would agree with me, I >can envision >situations where tasers might be warranted for use >by those officers >specially trained to deal with mentally ill >individuals suffering from a >psychotic episode or strung out on >drugs--assuming that these weapons would >be effective in those >situations--but that's about it. Their reminiscent of >cattle prods, >fire hoses, and other tactics used to control unruly crowds and >>demonstrators, and I would not be surprised to see them >used in such situations in the future. Let's at least not have them in >the >schools and risk their improper use. Unfortunately, mental illness is not age specific. There are kids in our schools that are dealing with schizophrenia and bipolar, too. If the police need to decide between using a gun or a taser on such an individual who is in crisis, or any kid in our school who is a threat to himself, the officer or others in the school, I hope they have the option to use a taser. Joe Nathan said: >...I think it is unfortunate that the St. Paul police feel they need to >have >tasers in our public high schools I would never dream of telling the police how they should do their job. But I know that for a police person to make a decision to use a taser or to use a gun in any situation would take a split second. A split second that could be deadly. And the final decision could be deadly if it is the wrong decision, also. So, I am concerned about the safety of the officers, too, and the use of tasers. As I said in the article, I hope there is plenty of training that goes along with the issuance of the tasers. Training about their proper use, how to identify someone who is having a mental health crisis, and safety procedures. It's funny that Tom should relate tasers to cattle prods. There are a lot of "Chronically mentally Ill walking around the Streets of St. Paul" that I think some people feel get unruly and need to have cattle prods to keep in line. Putting us in cages seem to be the method of keeping us in line right now. Wouldn't it be nice if society stopped treating us like cattle and started treating us like people? People with an illness that need help? Ahhh, dare to dream. Ren�e Jenson Como _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
