I had a hard time believing this one.
It was an encounter one Ozark 10-year-old will likely never forget.
Called to a home to help control an allegedly "unruly child," an Ozark police officer was reportedly told by the girl's mother that he could use the electric weapon to subdue her, according to 40/29 News Arkansas.
However, the girl supposedly kicked the officer in the groin when he approached. "He had no other choice [but to Taser her]," Ozark Police Choief [sic] Jim Noggle reportedly said. "He had to get the child under control."
According to the Associated Press, the officer's name is Dustin Bradshaw. His aggressive approach to dealing with a child has the girl's father enraged.
"If you can't pick the kid up and take her to your car, handcuff her, then I don't think you need to be an officer," Anthony Medlock reportedly said.
Ozark police argued that had the officer grabbed the girl, he could have hurt her. "If you grab somebody, you can slip an arm out of joint," the police chief added. "They can slip from you and fall on the ground."...
Inserted from <Raw Story>
It seems that almost every month I read a story about the abusive use of a TASER by police, including several fatalities.
The chief’s defense is absurd. Shooting thousands of volts of electricity through a ten year old body has to be more dangerous than the possibility of dropping the child, given that the TASER has killed full grown adults. The mother who gave permission, if the officer is not testilying about that, is equally responsible. The cop should be fired, branded on his forehead with a scarlet T, and forbidden to work in any phase of law enforcement ever again.
Somehow too many police officers (certainly not all) have gotten the notion that they can use the TASER in any and all circumstances. Until such time as training can be upgraded sufficiently for officers to respect the TASER’s lethal potential and use it only when appropriate, the weapon should be banned.
12 comments:
It is just to much fun to watch the taser dance and hear the screams of subduction. there is a raw feeling of power one gets from delivering it and no blood to clean up afterward.
It's clear some police officers have taken a useful tool -- one of the best new tools in law enforcement in the last quarter-century -- and misused it. The Taser is not to be used to subdue 10-year-olds, and it's not to be used to punish a 100-pound old woman for refusing to accept a traffic ticket. It's supposed to be used as an alternative to bullets when a suspect poses a physical threat. Police departments clearly have some stupid people in their midst.
It's almost comical to watch how easily the majority of Murkans accept such abuse of power.
Quite right! TC. It grows more and more outrageous... the rights violated by the local constabularies. And yet; they provide us with core services for such low salaries. The good ones are hero's and the bad one are more than just bad, eh? While I was driving the taxi (whew! we won't go back there!) many of the drivers I knew were using them... and it was mostly that they ended up getting zapped back! You don't want to do it in a car!
@ walking man; did you ever read stephen king's The Stand? Just wondering... if there is a relationship with your moniker and that tale...
Sadly, one of America's favorite pastimes is criticizing the police, for everything they do, without having a real understanding of anything they do. I try not to involve myself in such discussions as I know there is little hope of changing anyone's mind or opinion. The police are viewed by a large segment of the population as the enemy, until, of course they need them.
I have seen and been in situations where these so called "children" have bitten, kicked, cut and stabbed police officers who were reluctant to handcuff or in any way restrain these little monsters. That was in the day when there were no Tasers. In those days we simply had to use brute force, with benefit of training, on mama's little darlings. I can guarantee if I had had a Taser I would have used it in a flash. The chief is right. Manhandling these troubled little beasts, even by the most highly trained defensive tactics experts, in an effort to restrain them can cause far more harm than Tasing them.
As to the 100 pound woman, out of control over a simple traffic ticket, one has to experience the wrath of some of these "sweet little old ladies." Like the sweet little innocent children they can come at you with a vengeance, and speaking personally, I don't get paid to lay down and take it.
The most experienced and highly trained officer can unintentionally break an arm, or a leg, or cause some type of injury while attempting to control and then handcuff an out of control nut job. The most effective intermediate weapon when faced with such a situation is to use a Taser gun. It is quick and effective. Of course there would be criticism, because there is always criticism. Imagine the headlines:
"Vicious cop beats innocent little old lady senseless while making arrest."
So, which headline do you want? That one or this one:
"Vicious power abusing cop Tasers sweet, innocent mother of five."
Does that mean there are no cops who abuse power? Of course not. There are good cops and bad cops, because they are, after all, people. Sadly, when a bad decision is made, or an officer uses force that is more excessive than necessary to effect an arrest it is splashed all over the news, and all police everywhere get hit by the splatter.
There is no winning for the cops; ever.
MadMike, I was thinking of a fairly famous video in which the 100-pound old lady was simply walking back to her car after refusing to sign a traffic ticket. She was Tasered in the back as she presented no physical threat to the officer. There was no need to use any kind of force whatsoever.
Here in Canada, we have the infamous case of a Mr. Dziekanski, a man from Poland Tasered repeatedly by Mounties at an airport until he died. He was down on the floor after the first shock, and then Tasered three times after that.
Again, the Taser's an advancement in policing but it has been overused and misused.
Stimpson: There are always excesses. I have been Tasered several times so as to show my men that it is not as bad as some would have you believe. In return they had to be Tasered. If they refused they were not given the device.
I do not deny, once again, that there are abuses. I once commanded an internal affairs (Inspector General)division, on behalf of the state, and I can tell you I was disappointed by what I observed and investigated and that was before the Taser, but before the training and educational standards were set in place by the states.
Finally, I don't know that we can say it has been "overused and misused." The MSM has given us that impression. Were I not so lazy I would do the appropriate research and get the actual numbers, but there is life beyond blogging. I would, however, wager that PROVEN excessive force with the use of Tasers is less than 1% of 1%.
If you, or anyone wants to challenge that figure feel free to show me the proof. Put your fingers in my my wounds and call me Jesus otherwise.
By the way, if proven wrong, you get a MadMikesAmerica T-Shirt. Great for cleaning your car....
Gwendolyn...Nope no connection. I was given that name well before king published his book.
That's gross, Mark. :-)
Stimson, I agree.
Randal, it's the exchange of freedom for the perception of security.
Mike, I thought I had made it clear that my statement was not directed against all police. You clearly have a perspective that none of us can share. Like you said there are good cops and bad ones. May I suggest that the public would be less suspicious if police departments were not so inclined to close ranks around their worst offenders. Here in Portland an officer chocked a black man to death attempting to restrain him a few years back. What brought the biggest outcry is that within a few days a couple officers were selling "Smok'em, don't chok'em" t-shirts. Those officers are still on the force. But I can also understand that when an officer successfully uses a TASER to subdue a criminal, we never hear about it. Only the horror stories make it to the TV. You know I respect you and your point of view, Mike.
Thanks for this post TC. While I don't like to see police misconduct I know it happens. When it does my reactions are swift and visceral. I am a firm believer that once a cop commits a crime, on or off duty, he/she ceases to be the type of person who should wear the same badge I wore for over 30 years. Again this has been a challenging [and civilized] discussion.
And thank you for the comment, Mike. I agree. I can get just as visceral when people condemn the prisoners with whom I do volunteer work without considering the reality that people can change. This just goes to show that people of good will can work out sensitive issues in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
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