Fueling the fire for critics of Take Your Son and Daughter to Work Day, one bone-headed corrections officer is using the "but their parents said I could" defense for using a stun gun on a group of kids on the job for the day with Mom and Dad.
Sgt. Walter Schmidt claims he wanted to show the kids what mom and dad's jobs are really like at the Franklin Correctional Institute. Uh huh, because most corrections officers we know face daily doses of fifty thousand volts being shot through their bodies.
At least one of the kids shocked had to be taken to the hospital, and Schmidt has been terminated after fourteen years on the job. His post at time of the incident was arsenal sergeant.
"You tased at least two kids to demonstrate the EID, which is in direct
violation of procedure and placed the department at risk of litigation," wrote Warden Duffie Harrison in a letter to Schmidt.
The U.S. Department of Justice OKs the use of the EIDs when "used properly, at the correct moment, and when alternatives have been exhausted." Of course, that's for use on criminals - not kids. And still, Schmidt is telling papers that he thought the big "shock" was in getting fired because he didn't meant to be malicious.
Frankly, I think the parents who said "sure" to having their kids shocked with this thing are nuts (stun guns have been known to kill people). They, just like Schmidt, should have known better. And if he lacks the good sense to know not to use this on kids, who knows how judicious he was in using the gun on inmates?
What do you think parents? Bonehead move or is this guy being treated too harshly?
Image: Bollyn
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