http://www.news-record.com/news/education/tazers041305.htm

REIDSVILLE — Reidsville police Chief Edd Hunt wants permission to use stun guns on unruly middle and high school students, despite a nationwide controversy that has critics blaming them for deaths and some police departments re-evaluating their use.

Hunt sought permission from the Rockingham County school board Monday night to add Taser stun guns to the uniforms of his officers who work at the district’s alternative school, called the SCORE Center, and at the court-run Alternative Learning Program, known as ALPS.

Though the school board turned down his request, the police chief said he is not deterred. He plans to ask again once school resumes for the fall 2005-06 school year.

Hunt made the request because “we had some shootings here (in Reidsville) — four or five or six weeks ago — and a lot of them involved young people.

“Some of the young people were ending up in the SCORE center. We were seeing a carry-over of what was happening on the streets, happening at those particular schools.”

Though no shootings have occurred on the campuses, fights have. Hunt wanted his officers to have the Tasers on hand to help keep the peace.

The SCORE Center, which operates in the Booker T. Washington Learning Center in Reidsville, houses about 100 mostly middle and high school students who have been removed from their regular schools for a variety of reasons.

The ALPS program, which operates in M&L Faith Tabernacle Church on Willow Street in Reidsville, houses about 15 students. Most are ordered into the program by a judge or sent there because they were on long-term suspensions from regular schools.

“I don’t think our schools necessarily needed them,” school board member Elaine McCollum said Tuesday. “To me, we have had very few incidents if any, in our schools where you would need a Taser. I just hate the idea of using Tasers on children. So far, I don’t know of any circumstances that could not have been handled without a Taser.”

Tasers are touted as a less lethal option than handguns. They fire electrified barbs that are connected to the gun by insulated copper wires. Once it strikes, the Taser delivers a powerful electric shock that lasts at least five seconds.

More than 6,000 law enforcement, correctional and military agencies across the country use Tasers, according to Taser International, which manufactures the weapon. More than 200 law enforcement agencies in North Carolina use them.

A spokesman with the weapon’s manufacturer said Tasers never have directly contributed to a death.

However, the company said medical examiners claim the Taser may have been a contributing factor in the deaths of three people.

Greensboro police began field testing the guns last year but still are using them only on a limited basis.

Contact Cynthia Jeffries at 627-4881, Ext 126 or cjeffries@news-record.com