A shocking display

Thursday, June 26, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

A District Court bailiff demonstrated his Taser for a group of children on Take Your Child to Work Day by zapping a court volunteer with the weapon.

The April 24 incident at the courthouse has resulted in an ongoing barrage of criticism from Clark County managers, as reported Tuesday by the Las Vegas Sun’s Abigail Goldman. The criticism is warranted.

In front of children participating in the special day, a bailiff “Tased” the court’s 23-year-old audiovisual technician. An e-mail from courts spokesman Michael Sommermeyer says the volunteer “stood up and waved to the crowd” after being shocked.

It could have gone very wrong, however. Clark County Chief Financial Officer George Stephens asked what would have happened if the volunteer had suffered a heart attack or a seizure brought on by a previously undiagnosed medical condition.

We wonder what kind of message the demonstration sent to children. Are they to think the Taser is a toy from which people pop up waving after being zapped? The bailiff could have told these children 50 times that the Taser is a dangerous weapon, but most of the youngsters will remember only that a man shocked with one “stood up and waved to the crowd” afterward like the winner of some reality TV show stunt.

In defending his employee’s demonstration, Justice of the Peace Douglas Smith says courthouse marshals are frequently Tased when being trained to use the weapon. (Goldman noted that Metro Police ceased such actions during training after officers were injured as they fell to the ground.)

Smith told the Sun he believes Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine, the demonstration’s most vocal critic, is blowing the event out of proportion because she opposes the courthouse marshals’ raise request and wants them to look unprofessional. Those involved in this incident do appear unprofessional — not because of Valentine’s comments, however, but because they staged a highly inappropriate demonstration for children.