SYRACUSE -- The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit after a ninth grader was Tasered outside Fowler High School in September of 2009.
According to the NYCLU, the then 15-year-old student was shocked after trying to break up a fight between two teenage females. The group claims the police officer used excessive force when using the Taser on the student. It was his fifth day at Fowler after transferring from another school.
"Tasers are dangerous, even deadly, weapons," said Barrie Gewanter, director of the NYCLU's Central New York Chapter. "The officers in this case were guided by policies and practices that may be suitable for fighting crime on the streets, but are completely inappropriate for working with children in a learning environment."
The NYCLU says the Taser victim was attempting to step between two classmates who were fighting over the use of his cell phone. The NYCLU says the teen was hit in the arm with a barb from the fired Taser, then was handcuffed on the ground and arrested while the barb was still in his arm.
The lawsuit claims the student experiences pain in his left arm because of the Taser attack. He was never charged with a crime.
The NYCLU says the incident is a reflection of officer training and police policy that makes little distinction between students in a school and adults on the street.
Click here to read the text of the lawsuit.
