Taser Death: Denis Chabot (Houston, TX)

It happened again! Another unarmed and confused man was electrocuted with over 50,000 volts of electricity from a taser-happy policeman. This time the judge, jury and executioner was an unidentified officer of the Houston Police Department (HPD) who thought apparently didn't have the necessary training to subdue 38-year old Denis Chabot without using lethal force on September 1st. [SOURCE]

Denis Chabot was visiting a friend at a motel in north Houston when he got agitated. The motel manager and motel security guard called the problem into the Houston Police Department. The manager and guard wanted Chabot to leave.

When officers arrived, Chabot tried to leave. The unidentified police officers didn't want him to leave at that point ... so they unleashed their taser gun on him. A short time later Chabot was dead.

Not surprisingly, the police have been trying to spin the story by letting folks in the media know that Chabot had been arrested in the past for possession of marijuana, theft, robbery by threats and unauthorized use of a vehicle. They also want folks to know that Chabot lost his parental rights as a result of the arrests.

"His death could have been prevented if (HPD) had acted with sympathy toward someone who had problems with drugs," said the victim's brother, Christian Chabot.

What his past behavior has to do with the decision of the Houston Police Department to kill him is beyond my understanding. Chabot was unarmed. The fact that he used drugs is not ordinarily something we punish folks with the death penalty, yet, here we are ... a man is dead.

Family members are questioning the arrest protocol of the Houston police. His brother was 5-foot-5 and 125 pounds, Christian Chabot said,

"How much force is needed to put a guy that size down? My brother's death is a tragedy and he met an untimely and unjust end."

Taser Death: Jose Alfredo Jimenez (Harris County, TX)

The Houston Chronicle reports that another taser electrocution has taken place in America. This is the 81st such death in the past 18 months.

An unidentifed Harris County sheriff pulled over a white pickup for a traffic violation on June 14th.  The driver, Jose Jimenez, was asked to get out of his vehicle. We don't know what was said ... but, the deputy indicates that Jimenez hit him in the chest and began running away. The deputy says that he caught up to Jimenez about 75 feet away from the traffic stop and pumped him with 50,000 volts of electricity from his taser gun.

"He (the suspect) fell to the ground and hit his head," said Christina Garza, a sheriff's spokeswoman.

Paramedics were called to the scene to drive to save Jimenez's life with CPR. He was eventually taken to the Houston Northwest Medical Center. Jose Alfredo Jimenez died at the hospital.

The incident remains under investigation. Please POST A COMMENT ('Village Voices') if you have any additional information to share on this taser-related electrocution.

Good News Tuesday: Dennis Christian and Lyndon Bolden Win IT Merit Award Scholarships

To help more African Americans enter the information technology (IT) workforce, the CompTIA Educational Foundation provided 239 African Americans with free IT training and certification last year, and another 19 received merit award scholarships to help them further their educational goals.

African Americans are finding new tech career success, although they are still somewhat under-represented in the IT workforce. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 2008 calculated that approximately 574,000 African Americans worked in IT and related fields. African Americans make up roughly 12.5 percent of the entire U.S. population, compared to only 8.6 percent of the IT workforce.

To help diversify the IT workforce, the Foundation’s Creating Futures program provides training and certification opportunities to U.S. veterans, individuals with disabilities, women, minorities, at-risk youth and dislocated workers. The program works with employers to identify their hiring needs, then tailors its training to help individuals obtain the skills employers require. The Foundation’s IT Merit Awards Scholarships recognize outstanding accomplishments by students and adult learners in both the CompTIA Education to Careers (E2C) and CompTIA Learning Alliance (CLA) programs who have trained for and received CompTIA certification.

Two recent African American merit award winners came from the Barbara Jordan High School (BJHS) in Houston, Texas, a magnet school that makes it possible for students to earn a high school diploma while acquiring career and technical skills in their chosen career. Recognized by receiving the National High Schools that Work Gold award, it was one of only ten recipients to receive the award in 2009.

BJHS Seniors Dennis Christian and Lyndon Bolden passed their CompTIA A+ certification tests last fall and already have been accepted into Texas’ top universities. Dennis will attend Texas A&M University in the fall and plans on majoring in telecommunications. Interested in computers since he was young, he will travel and volunteer with the YMCA this summer before starting college.

Lyndon will attend the University of Texas to major in management information systems. He will move into college in early July with hopes of gaining a student job within the computer maintenance department on campus. Lyndon starting off his high school career focusing on football and athletics, but a knee injury refocused him on an IT career in his junior year.

BJHS combines hands-on study with online curriculum. The school works with HP and the Houston Community College System (HCCS), but needs more local business support.

Kevin McDonald, an instructor in the program, comments, “Our students need to see where the job opportunities are and what those jobs are like, so that the students can see themselves in those roles. We need more local companies to allow field trips to their offices and job shadowing.”

“Our industry can only grow stronger with more diversification and more qualified technicians,” said John Venator, president and CEO of the CompTIA Educational Foundation. “IT jobs are available, but we lack enough qualified workers to fill them. With programs like Creating Futures and the IT Merit Awards, we help more individuals launch a career in IT. However we need more companies and training organizations to step up. Dennis and Lyndon exemplify the type of bright students our industry wants. Let’s work together to help even more people join our industry.”

Student Summer Camp

Mentoring & Enrichment Seminar in Engineering Training (MESET) - Please pass this message on to any 11th grade African American student interested in engineering. This is an opportunity for 11th grade students to attend a FREE engineering camp at the University of Houston from June 3 - 15, 2007. African-American student participation is very much needed. Please have your student fill out the application and mail it to the address listed on the brochure. If you need further information please contact John Matthews, 713-743-4226.

Students that participate in this camp have been known to gain summer jobs. This camp helps students to develop good study habits and learn about engineering careers. Currently MESET need at least 15 more students to apply. The deadline is April 15, 2007.

Students are encouraged to apply from anywhere in the United States. Transportation is not provided. However, the camp is free. As a courtesy, staff members will pick up and return out of town students to the bus station, train station or airport for free.