Arkansas Police Use Taser on 10-Year-Old Girl

[Dryden]

10 year old girls getting tasered by adult policemen.....

I'm at a loss as to what is defended and justified anymore.

 

[ihateiraq]

my daughter is 2 and about 30lbs and it hurts like hell when she kicks me in the groin. i think the cop showed more restraint than i have. he should have daisy chained her to her mother and zapped them both.

 

[BloodEclipse]

More in this article:

Ark. officer uses Taser on 10-year-old girl

37 commentsNov. 18, 2009 02:42 PM
Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A police officer in a small Arkansas town used a stun gun on an unruly 10-year-old girl after he said her mother gave him permission to do so. Now the town's mayor is calling for an investigation into whether the Taser use was appropriate.
According to a report by Officer Dustin Bradshaw, obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press, police were called to the Ozark home Nov. 11 because of a domestic disturbance. When he arrived, the girl was curled up on the floor, screaming, the report said.
Bradshaw's report said the girl screamed, kicked and resisted any time her mother tried to get her in the shower before bed.
“Her mother told me to tase her if I needed to,” Bradshaw wrote.
The child was “violently kicking and verbally combative” when Bradshaw tried to take her into custody, and she kicked him in the groin. So he delivered “a very brief drive stun to her back,” the report said.
The names of the girl and her mother were redacted in the report.
Ozark Mayor Vernon McDaniel said Wednesday that the girl wasn't injured and is now at the Western Arkansas Youth Shelter in Cecil.
But McDaniel said he wants Arkansas State Police — and if they decline, the FBI — to investigate the incident.
“People here feel like that he made a mistake in using a Taser, and maybe he did, but we will not know until we get an impartial investigation,” McDaniel said.
The state police declined his request Tuesday, saying it only gets involved if the officer in question was accused of misconduct or targeted in an internal investigation.
Police Chief Jim Noggle said no disciplinary action was taken against Bradshaw. He said Tasers are a safe way to subdue people who are a danger to themselves or others.
“We didn't use the Taser to punish the child — just to bring the child under control so she wouldn't hurt herself or somebody else,” Noggle said.
If the officer tried to forcefully put the girl in handcuffs, he could have accidentally broken her arm or leg, Noggle said.
He said a touch of the stun gun — “less than a second” — stopped the girl from being unruly, and she was handcuffed, he said.
“She got up immediately and they put her in the patrol car,” McDaniel said.
Noggle said the girl will face disorderly conduct charges as a juvenile in the incident.
The girl's father, Anthony Medlock, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that his daughter has emotional problems, but that she didn't have a weapon and shouldn't have been Tasered. “My daughter does not deserve to be tased and be treated like an animal,” said Medlock, who is divorced from the girl's mother and does not have custody.
Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Taser, said it's up to individual law enforcement agencies to decide when Taser use is appropriate.
In some cases, a Taser “presents the safer response to resistance compared with the alternatives such as fists, kicks, baton strikes, bean bag guns, chemical agents, or canine response,” Tuttle said in a statement.
The police chief, who has been Tasered twice himself during training sessions, said his department has never had to Taser a child or elderly person before, but that in some instances, that could be necessary to ensure safety.
“We don't want to do things like this,” Noggle said. “This is something we have to do. We're required to maintain order and keep the peace.”

In some cases, a Taser “presents the safer response to resistance compared with the alternatives such as fists, kicks, baton strikes, bean bag guns, chemical agents, or canine response,” Tuttle said in a statement.

So if he didn't have a Taser would he have deployed any of these?
On a 10 yr old girl?
I think his judgment was guided by two factors.
1. Mom saying to use the Taser.
2. The pain and embarrassment of getting kicked in the groin.

 

[Dryden]

I don't know. I've been kicked, punched, and gouged in the groin.... it would not occur to me to pull out a holstered taser, place it up against a ten year old girl, and proceed to zap away.
If this police officer has trouble going one-on-one with a hysterical ten year old, maybe it's a training issue.... there's got to be more in his personnal defense toolbox than that.
Maybe a career change.

 

[ihateiraq]

I don't know. I've been kicked, punched, and gouged in the groin.... it would not occur to me to pull out a holstered taser, place it up against a ten year old girl, and proceed to zap away.
If this police officer has trouble going one-on-one with a hysterical ten year old, maybe it's a training issue.... there's got to be more in his personnal defense toolbox than that.
Maybe a career change.

a quick taze might have been preferable to attempting to restrain her and popping an arm out of socket though.

maybe the mom is looking for a lawsuit and subliminally planted the taser idea.

 

[Dryden]

maybe the mom is looking for a lawsuit and subliminally planted the taser idea.


Oh, Mom is a whole nother story. I wouldn't be surprised if she asked the cop if she herself could try zapping her own kid.

 

[Serial Crusher]

It says it in the OP article "and the mother told Bradshaw to use his Taser"

 

[BloodEclipse]

It says it in the OP article "and the mother told Bradshaw to use his Taser"

So what if she told him to use his baton or gun?
He doesn't get a free pass.
It's the old "hey jump off that bridge" deal.

 

[Serial Crusher]

It was a response to the posts immediately above it.......

 

[BloodEclipse]

It was a response to the posts immediately above it.......

Roger that!

 

[Indy317]

The police are getting out of control.

How many years did you give service to your community as a non out of control police officer? What about the rest of you? I constantly read postings here second guessing cops, that the cops are bad, the cops should know better, etc. etc..

Being a cop isn't a birth right. Cops are nothing more than former non-cops who got hired to do the job. If you don't like what the cops are doing, what have _you_ done to make a change? Have you at least tried, more than a few times, to get on a police force to make change from within? Do you encourage your younger relatives to look at jobs in LE? How many times have you went to political gatherings to voice your opinions about "out of control" police?

Maybe a career change.

Will _you_ step up and fill the void then?

 

[MACHINEGUN]

How messed up.. tazing a 10 year old girl.. no matter how combative.. is she really that big of a threat?

Seriously.. think about it.

 

[JetGirl]

Wait a second...

Do you encourage your younger relatives to look at jobs in LE? ?

So if I said "yes" to this and introduced you to a few who have followed through...that gives me the right to kvetch and moan about bad cops more than someone else?
Wrong.
Cops (good cops and bad cops) get paid from all our pockets and that gives any of the citizenry the right to say or as they see fit.
As far as "filing in"...every law abiding citizen DOES stand in the gap. The only difference is that we aren't backed up by the state or its payroll.
Gun or no gun.

 

[Fletch]

Wait a second...

So if I said "yes" to this and introduced you to a few who have followed through...that gives me the right to kvetch and moan about bad cops more than someone else?
Wrong.
Cops (good cops and bad cops) get paid from all our pockets and that gives any of the citizenry the right to say or as they see fit.
As far as "filing in"...every law abiding citizen DOES stand in the gap. The only difference is that we aren't backed up by the state or its payroll.
Gun or no gun.

Awesome post. Reps on recharge.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

Would the folks that have kids think about it like this , would you rather ,

1: Have your child get a quick taze to be brought into compliance or ,

2 : Have the officer use his training and wrestle your kid into compliance and in doing so possibly break your child's arm or something else ?

 

[BloodEclipse]

Would the folks that have kids think about it like this , would you rather ,

1: Have your child get a quick taze to be brought into compliance or ,

2 : Have the officer use his training and wrestle your kid into compliance and in doing so possibly break your child's arm or something else ?

Whats wrong with letting her throw a fit on the floor?
Who was she endangering?
Mom is an idiot for calling the cops because her 10 year old wouldn't take a shower.
What law did she break to get hauled away in the first place? Not listening to MOM? Better keep that under raps or you will soon be VERY busy.

 

[public servant]

Would the folks that have kids think about it like this , would you rather ,

1: Have your child get a quick taze to be brought into compliance or ,

2 : Have the officer use his training and wrestle your kid into compliance and in doing so possibly break your child's arm or something else ?

I'd rather people raise and discipline their kids so calling the police because they act like spoiled little brats is not necessary.

Mom...who called the cops...is apparently OK with the events. Dad however, (apparently they are separated or divorced) is ticked off because his little princess (who was kicking mom) got tased. Control your brat and none of this would have been necessary.

Spare the rod...

I'm not promoting beating your kids...but if they do not fear the consequences of their actions...you're doing it wrong. Stop kissing their *** and start busting it once in a while.

 

[BloodEclipse]

I'd rather people raise and discipline their kids so calling the police because they act like spoiled little brats is not necessary.

Mom...who called the cops...is apparently OK with the events. Dad however, (apparently they are separated or divorced) is ticked off because his little princess (who was kicking mom) got tased. Control your brat and none of this would have been necessary.

Spare the rod...

I'm not promoting beating your kids...but if they do not fear the consequences of their actions...you're doing it wrong. Stop kissing their *** and start busting it once in a while.

Tried repping you but my bucket is empty again.

 

[public servant]

What law did she break to get hauled away in the first place?

Battery if she did kick her mother as reported. Battery on LE if she kicked the LEO.

 

[Dryden]

Will _you_ step up and fill the void then?

If they are still hiring 55 year old men with cancer and a kidney transplant..... sure.

Look, cops have a hard enough time as it is without someone calling about their crying 10 year old daughter. It's just one case out of millions that are handled every day. We are here discussing this case with this officer. Other LEO personnel need not fear the criticism going on here. We do the same to politicians, CEOs, Doctors, and other professions that we come in direct contact with.
I'm not bashing, I'm giving my opinion about this instance ONLY.