AL Andretti
formerly mrbluprint
- Sep 9, 2008
- 6,609
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A school resource officer in Ohio has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly using a Taser to wake a student who fell asleep in class.
Officer Maryssa Boskoski, without warning, activated a Taser a few feet from a junior sleeping in a classroom at Liberty Preparatory School in Smithville, a village about 30 miles southwest of Akron, according to Cleveland’s WEWS-TV. The student wasn’t hurt in the Aug. 30 incident.
“She did take her Taser, remove the cartridge from it, and arced the Taser,” Smithville Police Chief Howard Funk told the TV station.
The teen, who slept through efforts to wake him by his teacher and interim Principal Jenna Parnell, apparently was awoken by a combination of the Taser’s sparking noise and the commotion it caused in the classroom.
SMITHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Officer Maryssa Boskoski is accused of using a Taser to wake up a sleeping student.
Parnell said she was surprised by the officer’s use of the weapon.
“Our interest is in the safety of our students, so hearing that go off was a little alarming,” Parnell told WFTX-TV.
Boskoski, 32, a part-time Smithville officer, reportedly violated the police department’s policy on the use of Tasers.
“Liberty Prep is fully cooperating with the Smithville Police Department’s investigation and the police officer has been put on administrative leave,” the school said in a Wednesday letter to parents.
The police chief told WFTX he plans to meet with the village solicitor to decide whether the incident merits criminal charges.
“It’s unfortunate and I’m disappointed that this took place,” Funk said. “It’s something I would not have expected from any of our officers.”
SEANFBOGGS VIA GETTY IMAGES
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the prongs of a Taser send a 50,000-volt shock followed by 100-microsecond pulses of 1,200 volts into the muscles, briefly incapacitating the body. A 2017 investigation by Reutersrevealed over 1,000 people have died after being shocked with Tasers.
Boskoski’s personnel file shows another questionable incident earlier this year when she failed to remove a Taser cartridge prior to a spark test. As a result, the device discharged in close proximity to another officer, WEWS-TV reported.
Funk, Parnell and Smithville Mayor Tom Poulson did not immediately respond to requests for comment from HuffPost.
Can a person actually be “too smart” to be a cop in America?
A federal court’s decision back in 2000 suggests that, yes, you actually can be.
Robert Jordan, a 49-year-old college graduate, scored a 33 on an intelligence test he took as part of the application process to become a police officer in the town of New London, Connecticut. The score meant Jordan had an IQ of 125.
The average score for police officers was a 21-22, or an IQ of 104. New London would only interview candidates who scored between 20 and 27.
Jordan sued the city alleging discrimination, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld that it wasn’t discrimination. “Why?” you might ask. Because New London Police Department applied the same standard to everyone who applied to be a cop there.
And the theory behind it?
ABC News reported back then. While at least acknowledging the basic fact that such a policy might be “unwise,” the court deemed it had a “rational basis” because it was put in place to lower cop turnover.
The police department went on to continue automatically disqualifying anyone whose IQ was “too high.” Jordan went on to become a prison guard instead.
And there you have it.
Considering all the police brutality and officer-involved shootings in the news these days, here’s a rhetorical question for you: how well does this hiring practice bode for cops actually being able to follow the Constitution or use proper discretion while “protecting and serving” America?
Does this snapshot from the past at least partially help explain how we got to where we are as a nation today — a total police state? Wow, and the Pentagon has been giving these guys tanksstraight off the battlefields in the Middle East to drive down American streets, too.
Recent public opinion polls, just by the way, show trust in police is pretty abysmal; 65% feel that our police departments do a poor job of holding officers accountable for misconduct.
Well America’s local law enforcement agencies — of which there are 18,000-plus, more than any other country in the world — aren’t exactly encouraging geniuses to apply to be officers here; in fact, geniuses don’t stand a chance even if they wanted to (which, I guess if they are geniuses, they probably don’t).
Alot of people are surprised at this verdict and rightfully so because you hardly see justice being served in these situations.
Now it's time to come up with solutions and actions that produce the kind of outcomes that we want.
My heart and prayers are with the McDonald family today and I hope this gives them some semblance of peace.
Black people need our own kind policing our community.