Columbia County school police to add new tool to safety belt
EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Columbia County School District Police officers will have a new de-escalation tool on their belt for the next school year.
Police Chief Gary Owens says they are not referring to the tool as a taser because it’s a device made by the company Axon International.
This device can distribute up to 50,000 electric volts from up to 15 feet away. The shock can cause some pain and tensing of the muscles.
The school district police officers normally carry various tools from handcuffs to guns. The addition of this device is new to them, but not to law enforcement.
It leaves some parents with questions. One parent, who was previously employed in law enforcement, doesn’t want to show his face.
“Why would you intimidate a child?” he asked.
But he does want people to know he is not in favor of the new device.
“Why would you pull a taser on them and let them know there is a risk of them being tased,” he said.
Parents say it’s too much.
“There’s no need for tasers to be an elementary school, middle school,” the parent said.
The officers carrying the device say they won’t have these to harm people. The devices actually work different on each person.
Owens said: “The device is a super smart device, it only releases enough amperage to just cause that effect only. And so why that’s important is there’s a huge safety margin, huge safety margin between that device deployment.”
Parents say it’s one step too far.
The parent said: “To me, this is just a tool for intimidation, to get verbal compliance, because of a child’s not going to want to get tased. So they’re going to listen.”
Owens says it’s a better option than the alternative.
“This is one more thing that you could do, to avoid having to use of deadly force or use something that’s going to, you know, hurt somebody,” said Owens.
Jenny Bargeron has a son in high school and says the officers handled may situations without these devices last year.
“There were several fights, lots of knives found on kids that they took the knife away from the kid without need a taser,” said Bargeron.
School board police say the goal is to protect students.
Owens said: “We want to make sure at the end of the day that our students and our families and everybody involved with the school system knows that when they send their children to school, they’re going to a safe environment.”
Parents are praying.
The anonymous parent said: “The only thing we can do is hope and pray that they don’t have to use it.”
School officials say the police department received a grant through the State of Georgia and was able to purchase the Axon devices as well as a Virtual Reality device.
According to Owens, this device used throughout the summer for training allows the officers to experience real-life situations where they may or may not have to use the device.
If you want to learn more about the Axon 7 taser, visit their website.
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