HIGH POINT – Stun guns are safe when properly used in dangerous circumstances, two law enforcement agency leaders said Thursday.

Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes and High Point Police Chief Jim Fealy told a gathering at the YWCA of High Point that officers using the weapons have a safer way to defuse violent situations. The two agencies provide Taser-armed school resource officers for many Guilford County school district high schools and middle schools.

Barnes said he believes stun guns are safer than pepper spray. Stun guns disrupt the nervous system and cause muscles to contract. The 5-second, 50,000-volt shock causes a stunned person to “freeze up.”

“Pepper spray has been attributed to more deaths,” Barnes said. “The spray lasts about 45 minutes and the Taser shock about 5 seconds. We need this stopgap. We do not want to use the .45-caliber handgun. It leaves a mark.”

Fealy and Barnes appeared with American Civil Liberties Union representative Ian Mance at a “Front Porch Conversations” session sponsored by the High Point Human Relations Commission and the YWCA.

“Most of the Taser use you see on television is a misuse, and I agree,” Fealy said. “A Taser can be a lifesaver to protect children. It is the safest weapon officers carry. We have reduced injuries since we have used them, and that is a positive thing.”

The Guilford County Board of Education has invited the same two agency leaders to discuss stun guns. Following a September incident at Ragsdale High School, several outraged parents complained to the school board about stun-gun dangers. An officer used a Taser on a 15-year-old female student after she threatened two faculty members and assaulted the officer, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Schools are much more violent now,” Barnes said.

Critics see several dangers and want stricter use policies.

“The devices have become glorified, and there is no law governing their use, just agency policies,” Mance said. “When used appropriately, like in High Point, you can limit injuries.”

Barnes and Fealy said their policies limit use of the weapons to repel attacks.

School board member Carlvena Foster, who believes officers should not use Tasers in the schools, again called for more discussions.

“The No. 1 goal is school safety,” Foster said. “We don’t have the activity in our schools that requires the use of Tasers. What works on the streets does not work at school.”

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