KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — There is a difference of opinion whether a student who was Tasered at Kalamazoo Central High after a fight in the lunchroom Monday, may have been treated unfairly.
Kalamazoo School trustees and Supt. Michael Rice are questioning whether using that non-lethal but stunning weapon on the 15-year-old was justified in this case.
The matter came up at this week’s School Board Meeting after the mother of the teen challenged the District to take a position. We are not using her name because her son is juvenile.
She told Trustees during Thursday night’s regular meeting that since viewing a video of the event, it’s clear to her that her son was already subdued and had been restrained by school security staff, and the decision by the officer to shooting him with the Taser was excessive.
At the time, Township Police Chief Tim Bourgeois felt the officer was justified in using the Taser, and Superintendent Michael Rice says that’s what the Chief repeated to him when he took issue with the officer’s action.
Dr.Rice says he does not think the use of the device was appropriate.
Trustees Tianna Henderson, Laura Freedman and Chair Patti Sholler-Barber all expressed concern for the way the police handled the matter.
