Tasing a ten year old... Wow!

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At the bottom of this story is the following:

It takes a real man to pick on a 65 pound girl. I'd really like to know what crime was being committed which could result in the involvement of the police. Was it even legal for the police officer to attempt to restrain her? Didn't it even dawn on the police officer that if the girl was so resistant to her mother's touch that perhaps there might be other issues? Perhaps a call to child welfare services would have been to appropriate course of action.

Such poor decision making on the part of a law enforcement officer should be unacceptable. An officer who would willingly put the life of a child at risk is a questionable candidate for continued employment.

 

what is wrong with the taser? its a little shock, they hit the floor, they get cuffed, not a big deal.

as opposed to dragging someone to the floor, CS'ing them and cuffing them.
preferable choice.

If I had a taser, my job would be safe, and I tell you, alot of innocent bystanders wouldnt be saying door staff are heavy handed when a fight accidently ploughs through them. because they would have been safely taken to the floor by the taser.

we dont know anything about this situation, everyone is making assumptions, the article is obviously designed to create this kind of moral debate.

 

Tasers aren't a little shock. They can kill people. You seriously can't see a problem with using a potentially lethal weapon on a child?

 

Have you ever been tased? I doubt it would have just been alittle shock.

 

I'm with Faye on this one, it's not just a "little shock" when you're talking about a stun gun. Some people here seem to think that a drive stun to the back would be less painful or harmful than a grown man physically restraining a 65 lb girl; if I'm not mistaken the point of a drive stun is pain compliance. In other words, compliance through pain. Complying out of pain is not a healthy method of persuasion in most cases; and in my opinion definitely not in someone as young and impressionable as this. Speaking of which though, if she was physically attacking him and being violent, why was he behind her? I mean, I can't help picture a grown man walking up to a ten year old girl and drive stunning her in the back while she isn't facing him. (Edit - that was semi-unclear, I was referring to this statement in the original article, "He said he delivered 'a very brief drive stun to her back.'" I am not up to date on police code though, so maybe he was taught to tase in the back."

I have to say though, I'm glad that the officer at least used a drive stun. I've seen large grown men break into tears when they have the wires shot into them.

 

Dude.....Are you delirious? A taser delivers several tens of thousands of volts and enough current to drop a 300lb linebacker instantly. If you think a taser is "just a little shock", I suggest you go down to your local police department and request a demonstration on yourself. I'm sure a cop would be more than willing to oblige once you sign the waiver.

 

This happens to also be in wikipedia:

 

I saw an episode of Jacka$$ where the protagonist shoots himself with a taser (with wires). He was convulsing on the floor and didn't seem happy about it one bit. Afterwards, he was squirming on the floor...

If you believe it's a little shock, go ahead, do like the Jacka$$ guy...

NB : I don't like that show at all. I was flipping channels and saw it buy accident....

 

Well yeah...that's like getting two barbed roofing nails shot into you. You're not only getting skin penetration, but the shock is being delivered straight to the muscles.

 

Faye is absolutely right.

The Taser induces something akin to an epileptic seizure. People have been reported to have lost control of their bodily functions i.e. wet or crapped their pants after being tasered. The muscles also cramp. That's with overwhelming probability the reason why then manufacturer would warn users to fire the Taser at the chest, as the heart muscle might easily cramp, too - which would result in an induced heart attack.

 

Shouldn't the manufacturer warn people NOT to use the taser on the other guy's chest?

 

Funny you ask the question, I have been tased, completely by mistake Ill add, but it really isnt that big a deal, it lasts about 5 seconds and just leaves you with a slight ache the barbs feel similar to needles used to give blood, you dont feel much of it, its kind of like touching an electric fence designed to keep sheep enclosed. Ive also been CS'ed, give me the taser anyday.

I was tased working the door at the club, the police had been called by a member of the public who reported that a 6' white man wearing black had a gun - the police showed up with armed response, I however had already confiscated the BB gun which looked like a real gun from the guy, the police saw me with it in my hand, I went to tell them what had happened and they tased me, and I went straight back to work afterwards.

 

I agree on all points.

I also agree to an extent with Shoshino in that this story does seem to be sensationalized.

If the girl was just being unruly, then why were the cops there? Last I checked, it was completely legal to act like a brat inside your own damn house. It's a pain in the ass for the parent(s), but it's not criminal. Whether there are other issues with the girl is moot - why were the police there in the first place.

 

The police were there because the mother called them (and that all depends on what the mother said on the phone when she called them). Also, realize that CPS is not the group to call when you have a vague incling there may be something wrong somewhere. I've heard way too many horror storries of CPS agents assuming the worst and demanding to be proven wrong (i.e. prove yourself innocent, and by the way, I'm taking the child until you do). Call CPS when you know something is wrong, even if you can't identify what.

As to the taser, some tasers come with multiple settings. I don't know if this is one or not. If it is, and he used the minimal setting, I don't see any problem at all. If it is and he used a higher setting, then we have a problem. If it isn't, then it really is a tough call between shocking and injuring the child (and yes, injury could easily occur even with a trained officer).

 

Well, yeah, the police had to show up. It was probably classified as a "domestic disturbance" or something along those lines, and police officers are required to respond. They certainly are NOT required to taser a child when they show up. And just because the mother gave permission does not mean that it was OK - the officer should still have discretion as to what level of force is required.

As I said before, if a police officer needs a stun gun to get a 10-yr old girl under control, he probably shouldn't be a police officer. If the mother had used a taser on her daughter, she'd be arrested for child abuse, but it's OK if the police do it?

But you're assuming the choice is between shocking and injuring the child. I will concede that if the police officer tried to physically restrain the child he could have hurt her. But that is not certain. You make is sound like there were one of two possible options: tase her, or injure her, and that is simply not the case. Furthermore, in using the taser, you are also risking the possibility that you would kill her. If you are going to say you shouldn't try to physically restrain her because you could hurt her, then you cannot discount the small chance that tasing her will kill her.

 

Shoshino, were you the "not-so-bright" person in the electronics class who willingly grabbed the top of the Tesla Coil?

I've had a lot of voltage passed though my body (a 6" tall Tesla Coil on crack), and while it was nearly painless, it made everyone in the chain have mild convulsions....that is, until the chain was broken. At that point, it was *extremely* painful and made us all convult violently. If a taser is anything like that, then I'm going to do everything a cop tells me to.

BTW, do tasers have different power settings?

 

You can definitely purchase tasers that have different voltages that they discharge - there are some that have maximum discharges in the tens of thousands of volts, and some that go into the hundreds of thousands of volts. They also make tasers that you can manually adjust how much voltage they discharge. I have no idea what type the officer was using.

 

Actually, the voltage is less of a concern than the amperage. Voltages can go into the millions of volts without causing any damage to the person, as long as the amperage is low. On the other hand, just a thousand volts (and probably as low as a few hundred) on continuous supply can cook you through.

 

Come on now -- ohm's law ... voltage divided by resistance equals amperage. Given enough volts you can acheive high amps through the body.

 

T2B is right, but that's almost moot here. The amperage on ALL tasers is minimal. That's why they advertise based on voltage and not amps. People survive lighning strikes that have voltages into the millions.

If taser manufacturers wanted to up the amperage delivered by a taser they could easily enough. The only problem with that is a single amp is often fatal to humans. Taser are specifically designed that they deliver a fraction of an amp - usually around 0.1.