Student tasered at Montgomery Blair High School

[Anonymous]

An unruly female student was tasered -- my kid tells me three times -- at Blair High School today before being subdued by police and school officials and taken to the hospital.

Admittedly I wasn't there and don't know all the details, which were in short supply in the letter emailed to parents by the principal about the incident.

But wouldn't you think various police and school security could subdue a teenaged girl without using a taser? And shouldn't that very key bit of information,
that a taser was used to subdue the kid, be part of the principal's communication? (It was omitted).

Are there similar occurrences at other county high schools? I'm really taken aback by this.

[Anonymous]

According to news reports (WaPo), said student is a 16 year old freshman who was defiant and then punched the SRO.

Let's see, a 16 yo FRESHMAN. That right there tells one a lot about the student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An unruly female student was tasered -- my kid tells me three times -- at Blair High School today before being subdued by police and school officials and taken to the hospital.

Admittedly I wasn't there and don't know all the details, which were in short supply in the letter emailed to parents by the principal about the incident.

But wouldn't you think various police and school security could subdue a teenaged girl without using a taser? And shouldn't that very key bit of information,
that a taser was used to subdue the kid, be part of the principal's communication? (It was omitted).

Are there similar occurrences at other county high schools? I'm really taken aback by this.

One officer cannot taze someone three times. The barbs have to be reloaded and that cannot happen in such a short period of time. So chalk that up to a typical teenage rumor.

If it makes any difference the officer was a female who was punched in the face. In a situation like that the use of the tazer is justified.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I agree: the teen rumor mill is anything but reliable.

All the more reason for the principal to have coughed up the full story, rather than glossing over the details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to news reports (WaPo), said student is a 16 year old freshman who was defiant and then punched the SRO.

Let's see, a 16 yo FRESHMAN. That right there tells one a lot about the student.

Like what, that she was redshirted? My 7 yo second grader has classmates who will turn 16 when they are freshmen.

[Anonymous]

When I was in HS, an assistant principal peppered-sprayed the shit out of two girls in a fistfight. there are some crazy teenagers out there and I don't blame administrators for not wanting to get hurt.

[Anonymous]

There is lots of police activity in and around Northwood and Blair. Not so much the rest of the county. Just here and there. So I am not surprised at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is lots of police activity in and around Northwood and Blair. Not so much the rest of the county. Just here and there. So I am not surprised at all.

[Anonymous]

The girl is physically violent and you do not think that she should be tasered but instead, free to punch who ever she feels like it? OP, get real. The principal does not need to go into detail about the taser as well. That has nothing to do with you or any of the other students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The girl is physically violent and you do not think that she should be tasered but instead, free to punch who ever she feels like it? OP, get real. The principal does not need to go into detail about the taser as well. That has nothing to do with you or any of the other students.

I agree. The details of the arrest do not affect the safety of the other students and do not need to be shared.

[Anonymous]

The principal should have disclosed that the violence escalated to the point the Police Officer, a female, felt it necessary to deploy her Taser. Principal Renay Johnson has shown that she cares little about student safety and a lot about promoting herself.

She didn’t disclose that last December the violence got so bad that police officers were present after school around Blair.

She should have mentioned the Taser use especially since the school newspaper, Silver Chips, reported it.

Time to investigate Johnson to see if she is putting our children at risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The girl is physically violent and you do not think that she should be tasered but instead, free to punch who ever she feels like it? OP, get real. The principal does not need to go into detail about the taser as well. That has nothing to do with you or any of the other students.

I agree. The details of the arrest do not affect the safety of the other students and do not need to be shared.

NP here. I understand your point. But as a former school administrator and having seen the communication that was distributed, I think that this principal could have communicated better. I am not saying that we need to know everything, but the principal needs to get out in front of the rumor mill and dispel a lot of the inaccurate information that is floating around. That is what effective crisis managers do. Also, seeing as how people have died from being tasered, it would be a good idea for the principal and MCPD to communicate what the county policy is on the use of non-lethal weapons on school grounds. They do not HAVE to, but it would help.

[Anonymous]

As I understand it from the news, the student started attacking a female officer. I think use of non-lethal force (that's what tasers are considered) was justified.

If I was a cop, I certainly wouldn't let a student punch me and not try to defend myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I understand it from the news, the student started attacking a female officer. I think use of non-lethal force (that's what tasers are considered) was justified.

If I was a cop, I certainly wouldn't let a student punch me and not try to defend myself.

Yes, and all police authorized to carry and use tasers have been tased themselves, so they know what it feels like and are less likely to use it unnecessarily.

[Anonymous]

People have died being tasered. I would like to know what the exact protocol is/is supposed to be in this type of situation. Can't they give the girl space and time? Or use some deescalation protocol before approaching?