Officer fired for stun gun stunt

PERKINS TWP. — Elected officials fired Perkins Schools' longtime resource officer for allegedly deploying a stun gun onto two students and then providing false information about what happened. On Monday, Perkins Township trustees met during a special session in which they, by a unanimous 3-0 vote, terminated Tonya Corbin's employment. She served with the department dating back to 2005, earning about $60,000 a year. For many of those years, Corbin worked specifically for Perkins Schools, overseeing safety and crime prevention in buildings and around its campuses. The incident in question stems back to May 19 at Perkins High School, according to an internal investigation report the Register received through a public records request. Corbin hosted a women's self-defense class, a seminar typically offered each year for older female students. Generally, in the past, other officers leading this seminar, including former police Chief Robb Parthemore, brought in items not considered to be true weapons, like rubber knives, for educational purposes. But, for whatever reason, Corbin brought in a stun gun. Corbin previously assisted in teaching the seminar but never led it, according to police chief Vince Donald. Also known as an electroshock weapon, a stun gun's primary function aims to temporarily disrupt muscle functions and/or inflict pain without causing significant injury. Corbin allegedly activated the stun gun onto two students. At the time, one student was 17, and the other was 18. Before triggering the weapon, Corbin allegedly told the students, "She would not use the stun gun on them." A teacher, who witnessed the incident occur in her classroom, spoke up and against Corbin's actions. "You can't do that to a student," the teacher told Corbin. Immediately after this, the record indicates, "Officer Corbin put the stun gun up to (a student's) leg/thigh and triggered the stun gun," the report read. After the teacher raised these objections, Corbin reportedly said, "Maybe (the teacher) needs to go for a walk." Corbin then allegedly fired the stun gun onto another student. "I felt powerless," the teacher said in a follow-up interview with police. When the teacher informed a high-ranking school administrator about what happened, that person then confronted Corbin. The administrator believes Corbin "blew him off" about the incident. Upon speaking to her police colleagues, Corbin denied firing the stun gun. She did admit to letting two students use the gun on themselves. "I did not stun them, no," Corbin said during a May 26 interview with her union representative present. "Corbin further advised she did give the stun gun to the students and explained that the two students used it on themselves." Corbin's statements, however, contradict not only what the teacher claimed but also statements made by both students actually struck by the weapon. On May 24, the students gave the school administrator their collective account. "Both students indicated Officer Tonya used the stun gun on them and that they did not use it on themselves," according to the report, recapping a conversation between the administrator and both students. A series of events then took place: • Also, on May 24, Donald reassigned Corbin to a road patrol and removed her from the school for investigative reasons. • On May 27, Donald and other commanders conducted another meeting with Corbin, who admitted to deploying the stun gun onto one student "but it did not go off." • On June 2, Donald placed Corbin on paid administrative leave. At this time, she needed to hand in her weapons, keycards and badge. One day later, she handed in her school computer. • On June 8, Donald raised some concerns with Corbin's statements, "which it appears from the investigation that the department conducted were false." After the investigation concluded, commanders determined Corbin broke several department policies: — Misfeasance, or the wrongful exercise of lawful activity, in office — A violation of the department's conducted electrical weapons policy — A violation which breaks protocols for "false statements" and "incompetent behavior." • On June 14, Donald placed Corbin on unpaid leave due to these charges. • On Monday, the firing then occurred. The trustees "move that the employment of Officer Tonya Corbin with the Perkins Township Police Department be terminated, effective immediately, for the reasons (listed)," according to a statement submitted and signed by trustees. Perkins Schools superintendent Todd Boggs also spoke with the Register, talking generally about student safety. "Safety is of the utmost importance for all of our personnel," he said.