After son tased by police, family using event to spread message about mental health awareness

GARDEN CITY, Nassau County (WABC) -- A family on Long Island is using a real-life event, to help spread a message about mental health awareness.

Claudia Hutchinson-Stewart's16-year-old son, who has behavioral issues, was tased by Suffolk County Police during an incident at Islip High School.

"The officer comes out and he says 'I apologize, but you know your son was tased but he did not tell me that he had any IEPs or emotional or any type of things happening,'" Hutchinson-Stewart said.

She blames the school, not the police, for not following the proper protocol for dealing with students in the event of a mental or emotional disturbance.

"The security guards were called, principal, assistant principal tried to tell him to get back to class. He said, 'please give me a moment no, give me a moment,'" Hutchinson-Stewart said.

"If they were to just leave me alone and gave me a minute to just process my thoughts, it would've been better," her son said.

The family is now considering working with Life's WORC Crisis Team, a nonprofit that aims to improve coping mechanisms for people with emotional and behavioral issues and help them avoid police arrests and escalations.

"My role is to oversee the crisis team. which consists of four individuals that are intensive behavior support specialists," Director of Crisis Management Sean Pickett said.

"Spending a lot of downtime with the individuals, help building a positive relationship, positive rapport, getting to know what some of their interests are. And use those things as a tool to help give them the right coping method," Assistant Director of Crisis Management Alfred Funny said.

"Our crisis team interfaces with all municipalities and all first responders whether it be a police officer, whether it be a fireman or an emt coming on site, Chief Officer of Behavioral and Clinical Operations John Pfiefer said.

"I think it would be a big help," Hutchinson-Stewart said. "Everyone needs support. So the more support you have, the more numbers you have to call, the more people that you know. It helps, especially in the development of our children."