The Associated Press
Miami, Fla. - The head of Miami-Dade Schools is asking police to never again use stun guns on elementary school children, as officers have in at least two recent cases.
In a letter released Friday, Superintendent Rudy Crew told Miami-Dade Police Director Bobby Parker that “certain tactics should never be used in dealing with young children - particularly within a school.”
The letter was released the same day Parker held a news conference to defend the use of a 50,000-volt stun gun on a 6-year-old boy in a school office, saying the child had cut himself twice with a shard of glass and was threatening further harm to himself.
Parker acknowledge that it was questionable when an officer used a Taser stun gun on a 12-year-old girl, who was fleeing officers because she was drunk and apparently skipping school.
Police officials did not return a call Saturday seeking comment on Crew’s letter.
Parker said officials were reviewing their policy on stun gun use but that officers will be allowed to continue using them until the review is complete.
The 6-year-old boy who was stunned was treated and then hospitalized for psychiatric observation for five days.