I am amazed that you call into question the use of pepper spray by a law enforcement officer at Chesapeake High School ("How much force is too much?" Dec. 16). You state that "school officials should reconsider whether the same rules that apply to criminals on the street should apply to students in the school hallway."
I would argue that a student who refuses to obey a direct police verbal command and then proceeds to physically assault the officer is no different from any criminal on the street.
It is not the officer's fault that the spray was transmitted to others at the school. It is ultimately the fault of the student who caused the whole situation in the first place.
As far as I'm concerned, the student should be looking at criminal charges for assaulting an officer. Please lay the blame where it belongs.
Michael Langbaum, Baltimore