The Uniontown Area School Board, as well as concerned citizens and parents, had an opportunity Wednesday to learn about Tasers that will be proposed in the school district and share their opinions on the subject.
Even before Don Homer, the director of security for the school district, could show the proposed Tasers to be used and explain how they operate, those attending a special meeting voiced opposition.
One resident, Mary Hackney, a teacher at Laurel Highlands School District for 35 years, said she had to break up many fights in her years but no incident required a Taser.
"This is not a safe idea," Hackney said.
Another resident, Thelma Lahue, was opposed to having Tasers in school, but offered questions: how would the Tasers make a difference in safety, would someone innocent get hurt in an incident, who would be using the Taser, would those carrying the Tasers be drug-tested and was there an incident in the school to cause the need for Tasers.
Other concerns included the cost of the Tasers, the cost of training and if they're opening a door for possible lawsuits.
Homer said the school has tried to be pro-active over the years in terms of security, and his job is to look within and outside of the school to stay ahead of trends in society, citing there was no school security 20 years ago but the ways of the world have made it commonplace.
"We have to think of the future," Homer said, adding that there had been recent incidents outside of the school where police would need Tasers, and it's possible that similar incidents could make it into the schools.
Homer said he has been a trained Taser instructor since 2000, and he has two school police officers who are certified and trained to have and operate a Taser, which means he would not issue a Taser to school security, only school police.
For someone to be certified to hold a Taser in a school, they must have been Tased to know what they could put someone else through.
The projectile Taser that Homer has is equipped with a CO2 cartridge with two darts connected to 21 feet of copper wire. When the user aims the Taser, a laser sight is activated for accuracy as well as an audio and video recording device. The Taser is equipped with safety-like guns and a switch to limit the duration of the charge between one and five seconds.
When the darts penetrate a maximum of a half-inch of skin, they send a shock that contracts muscles in the body and causes the person to go into a fetal position, Homer said. He added that people with heart conditions or differences in weight are not in danger from the shock.
However, injuries from falls can result when a person is hit by a Taser. For that reason, officers must use the device as a last measure of force in a situation, he said.
Homer said the body is back to normal after five seconds, and anyone who touches a person being shocked by a Taser would not be shocked.
The cost for the three Tasers proposed for the school district is $2,500.
"I think this is what we need," Homer said. "I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it."
After Homer's presentation, most of the audience appeared unsatisfied and still anti-Taser.
Director Paul Bortz Sr. said Homer and the district solicitor will develop a Taser policy that will be read at the board's regular meeting Aug. 18 and voted on in September.
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