Was a Taser too much?

Re “Officer’s use of Taser on 12-year-old investigated,” March 2

This article mentions the use of Tasers on small children. But a 5-foot-7, 130-to 150-pound 12-year-old male, like the one involved in the Hawthorne incident, is not a small child. This student had already inflicted physical harm on adults trying to restrain him.

The use of mace and rubber bullets is also not without hazards. So what other choice did the police officer have?

The topic that should be debated is the practice of placing violent autistic students in regular classrooms. I am not unsympathetic to the plight of autistic children. However, placing autistic children who are subject to outbursts of violence in a regular school setting without staff capable of dealing with them is a disservice to these children and their schoolmates.

Ileana Liel

Riverside

--

As a father of a boy diagnosed with autism, I am disgusted by the use of a Taser on any young boy at school by the police, regardless of his disability.

So as not to deprive law enforcement of what may be a legitimate tool, I have a proposal: Any time anyone uses a Taser on a student at a school in the line of duty, regardless of the offense, the officer, the principal and the chief of police should be Tasered the same number of times as the student. If the child is handicapped, they get Tasered twice as many times. This way, a Taser will only be used sparingly. This is not an “eye for an eye” proposal but a “do unto others.”

Valeo Schultz

Los Angeles