Permission on Using Tasers on Youth - Research Paper Example

Should Florida’s school resource officers be permitted to use Tasers on youth? The Executive Summary A policy can be developed in a need and in response to a need. In order to do this, the State needs to assess its activities, responsibilities and external environment in order to identify the need for policies and procedures. After the identification of the need, the governor should delegate duties to a task force to investigate the situation and to review the relevant policies. For instance the committee or the task force should investigate on the applicability of the existing Taser laws in the state and state where the policy is legalized in relation to those states where the policy is illegalized, and to compare the relevance of the policy in the Florida State. The task force should consult a legal expert and all the stake holders to be affected by the policy. The policy is most effective when those affected by the policy are consulted, are supportive and have the opportunity to consider and discuss the potential implications of the policy. The task force team should afterwards embark on the gathering of information, which concerns the flawed Taser law in the State, consulting various stakeholders that have been affected directly or indirectly by the law. The policy should then be drafted. In drafting the policy, should consider the various components and structure of the draft policy. In this draft policy, we have dealt with the statement of the policy , that is, the policy aims at ensuring that the citizens of the Florida state receives quality services as far as justice to criminal offenders are concerned. The policy should include; underpinning philosophy, objectives, actions to be taken, strategies, desired outcomes, performance indicators, management plan, and the review program. Introduction Security is a vital aspect for economic growth for any country. A secure nation is characterized by stability hence good economic and standard of living. In this regard, every government works hard to ensure that its nation is secure (Appleton, 2013). To attain a secure nation, there should be well-outlined policies that need to be implemented. How a country’s national security policies are developed, coordinated, articulated and implemented is critical for the well-being of the country. It is worth noting that establishing policies is one aspect but implementation of those policies is another aspect. However, the foundation is the establishment of those policies. In this regard, the security agents needs a well-defined and smoothly functioning policy development and decision making process (Appleton, 2013). Studies suggest that increasing number of school arrests and court referrals for minor school misconduct has led to increased implementation of School Resource Officers. In most circumstances, the deployment of police personnel can be strictly regarded as one of the ways of increasing the criminalization of school misconduct. In this regard, it is vital that the School Resource Officers programs are implemented for the formal law enforcement (Doerner, 2012). School resource officers being armed with Tasers in school is rapidly becoming an area of interest and discussion in relation to school safety. There have been existence of some incidents that has led to the questionable judgment in the use of Tasers on the juveniles by few officers. It is worth noting that the use of Taser ranges from individuals who voluntarily ask the officers to use it on them, and to those young children for situations that are not life threatening. Inappropriate use of Tasers can be to some extent result from an individual’s poor judgment (Appleton, 2013). Even though not all the cases can result to inappropriate use of Tasers, caution is vital especially in trying not to characterize all the police officers carrying Tasers in the category of those making poor judgments in anecdotal cases. It also vital to note that most of the officers are not equipped with Tasers at all (Moskos, 2009). According to many officers, the use of Taser is determined by the circumstance not the age of the individual. However, some officers feel that there is no need of using Tasers since level of school violence doesnt warrant it. In this regard, this report tries to highlight if Florida’s school resource officers should be permitted to use Tasers on youth (Moskos, 2009). REVIEW OF RESEARCH POLICIES The aim of the Research project To investigate if it is appropriate to permit Florida’s school resource officers to use Tasers on youth. Description of the current state of crime in Florida Florida has witnessed a steady decline in crime rate. To be fair, much credit should go to the local government for its established security policies and implementations. According to Florida Statistical Analysis Center, violent crimes experienced a decrease in the number of reported violent offences from the year 1993 to 2013. The statistics show that this number went down 43.3% from 161,789 to 91,703 reported offences in the years 1993 2013 respectively. The overall rate of crime also reduced by 60% from 1,188.9 to 476.1 offence per 100,000 population between 1993 and 2013. The State’s population increased by 41.5% during the same year. It is worth noting that violent crime are offences such as murder, robbery, forcible sex offences and aggravated assault. The figure below shows a crime rate of Florida between 1993 and 2013. SOURCE: Florida Statistical Analysis Center:  FDLE (1993-2013). Crime in Florida, Florida uniform crime report Debate about the use of Taser The debate about the use of Taser in schools is one that will not go away anytime soon. In fact, the debate majorly focuses on the parents and the general public on one side, and the law enforcement officers on the other side (Hendrix, 2013). Police officers based in schools have noted that Taser use can potentially be helpful to officers working in school in case of a threat of an aged intruder threatening the security of the students and other people at large. In fact other officers, argue that Tasers can be used to control students that threaten to cause security threat to themselves or the entire school population (Hendrix, 2013). In general terms, many law enforces agree to the fact that Tasers are useful tool for police officers. That is; the use of Tasers add a vital alternative to the ‘use of force’ that in most of the time used by the police to counter threats against them and others (Hendrix, 2013). Many parents have been vocal against the use of Taser in school. Many parents argue that the use of Taser goes against student’s safety because it helps in developing a culture that is not what a true educational culture depict in schools. The argument that Taser is how you handle a large adolescent in a learning environment does not add up and is not what a school site should be, according to many parents. Some arguments about the use of Taser is that it can be wrongly used against special needs students (Hendrix, 2013). For instance, an autistic student might loss his or her self-control as other students-and using Taser against that student would be inadmissible. In fact, some parents argue that instead of Taser, there should be policies that permit young children to have overnight visits and residence at the correctional facilities with their parents (Kim, Losen, & Hewitt, 2010). This will discourage one to commit the criminal offence, because of the magnitude of the punishment. The State policy that allows the school recourse officers to use Tasers may lead to school dropout; consequently increase in the criminal cases. Recommendations on the above situation 1) The Florida state should come up with a policy that would address other ways of punishing the youth apart from the use tasers. 2) The State should eradicate educational and vocational programs, but come up with other punitive programs that would discourage criminal offenders from committing the offence. 3) The State of Florida should come up with a policy that would limit the contact between the criminal and his/her loved ones to reduce the increasing rate of the criminal cases. 4) The State should amend the policy that would limit the no of private citizens who own the assault weapons. 5) The State should come up with the most severe punishment to sex offenders, including chemical castration to reduce the number of sex offenders. POLICY AND RECCOMENDATION Stages in the policy development 1) Identification of the need Flawed policies in the criminal justice. (Specifically, whether school resource officers should be permitted to use tasers on the youth) 2) Identification of who to take lead responsibility. The special task force. To take the lead responsibility. 3) Gather information Gather adequate information depending on the legal responsibility, accurate understanding of the problem, confirming from other countries that have handled the same problem (a case study). Include the assessment of the current policies in relation to the problem under investigation. 4) Drafting of the policy Components of the policy 1) Statement The policy aims at ensuring that the Florida State fulfils the expectation of her citizens for quality services with regard to justice to the criminal offenders. 2) Underpinning principles, values and philosophies. The underpinning principle of this policy is that the provision of quality services is of the uttermost importance in building a crime-free State, with the citizens living in peace and with a feeling of maximum protection of themselves and their properties. 3) Objectives To reduce taser related crime rate in the State. To create a favorable condition for the co-existence between the school resource officers and the youth in the State. 4) Strategies to achieve each objective Strategies to achieve improvement in reducing crime related to taser laws include; Provision of training to the school resource officers on the available options of punishing the youth apart from the use of tasers. Keep the school resource officers updated on the new ways preventing the offences from occurring? Involve the youth in decision making in relation matters pertaining to punishment to be given those who go against the laws that guides various institutions. 5) Actions to be taken. The actions to be taken should include; Start an institution that would be charged with the responsibility of educating the school resource officers on matters relating to the punishment given to the youth. There should be regular workshops aimed at updating the school resource officers on new ways related to matters pertaining to the giving punishment School resource officers should be trained on guidance and counseling. 6) Desired outcomes The desired outcome of the policy may be measured in terms of the following. Reduced crime rate in the state. Increased discipline among the youth. Improved participation of the youth in decision making hence minimum cases on indiscipline among the youth. 7) Performance indicators of the policy. The performance of the policy may be measured in terms of; Reduced number of cases related tasers in schools. Good relationship between the school resource officers and the students in schools. Reduced number of detainees with the offences concerning tasers. 8) Management plan Management plan should include the day to day operational rules, giving details on how the policy should be implemented and observed on day to day basis. 9) Review program This policy should review annually. The review process should include an examination of the performance indicators, consultation of the various stakeholders and a discussion forum involving the State governmental committee and the professionals of the policy. Conclusion/Recommendation In conclusion, Florida State should review its policies that deals with the crimes such the use of Taser by school resource officials can be reduced by reviewing the Taser law, considering its implications in the wider State of Florida. The policy recommends that other ways of curbing crime in the schools should be used apart from the Taser. References Appleton, V. (2013). Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle. Lanham: Start Publishing LLC. Doerner, W. G. (2012). Floridas criminal justice system. Durham, N.C: Carolina Academic Press. Hendrix, N. (2013). Experience criminal justice. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Kim, C. Y., Losen, D. J., & Hewitt, D. (2010). The school to prison pipeline: Structuring legal reform. New York: New York University Press. McLeod, K. (2007). Freedom of expression®: Resistance and repression in the age of intellectual property. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Moskos, P. (2009). Cop in the hood: My year policing Baltimores eastern district. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Senechal, D., & Vault (Firm). (2005). The business school buzz book. New York, N.Y: Vault, Inc. Weiland, M., & Wilsey, S. (2008). State by state: A panoramic portrait of America. New York, NY: Ecco. Read More