10yr old Tasered by police

[TuathaSidhe]

Police Use Taser on 10-Year-Old Girl

The article leaves a lot to question IMO

[brymble]

Where have all the sane, responsible adults gone?

[TeamTwig]

Granted, I don't have children, but I find it very hard to believe that an adult male could not subdue a 10 year old girl without the use of a taser.

[Corvis Canis Latrans]

Indeed.

What mother tells a cop to taser her child? And what cop is actually so stupid about a lethal weapon that he actually uses it on a child?

Unless the kid was going after him with a knife or gun (which she wasn't, she was a scared and angry child, possibly throwing a tantrum or possibly with other problems, or both, who kicked him as she was on the ground), he had no reason....I think that would be the only thing that might justify it, if his life were threatened, which it wasn't.

[ShadowcatX]

Calling a taser's a "lethal weapon" is a bit of a stretch. Hands are more lethal than a taser. Tasers aren't just for preventing harm to a police officer, they also help prevent harm to the subjects.

That aside I'm going to point out a few things:

1) The child's reaction was severe enough that the police were called.

2) He tried to subdue her without tasering her. He got a painful injury, if not a severe one, for his trouble.

3) "If the officer tried to forcefully put the girl in handcuffs, he could have accidentally broken her arm or leg, Noggle said."

4) The mother, who has custody and was present, thought tasering was needed, and called for in the situation.

All that aside, I sure as heck wouldn't want to be the cop who tasered a kid.

[Corvis Canis Latrans]

Originally Posted by ShadowcatX

Calling a taser's a "lethal weapon" is a bit of a stretch. Hands are more lethal than a taser. Tasers aren't just for preventing harm to a police officer, they also help prevent harm to the subjects.

That aside I'm going to point out a few things:

1) The child's reaction was severe enough that the police were called.

2) He tried to subdue her without tasering her. He got a painful injury, if not a severe one, for his trouble.

3) "If the officer tried to forcefully put the girl in handcuffs, he could have accidentally broken her arm or leg, Noggle said."

4) The mother, who has custody and was present, thought tasering was needed, and called for in the situation.

All that aside, I sure as heck wouldn't want to be the cop who tasered a kid.

I suspect electricity through a child can cause more damage than the same electricity through an adult, hence the usage of "lethal".

If a parent deliberately electrocuted their child, it would be considered child abuse...

At least this will hopefully be investigated, because the only reason a kid would be throwing a tantrum like that over a shower would be either due to abuse or to some sort of developmental problem, and if the parent couldn't handle that she damn well needs all her kids (if there are any more) taken away.

[LacyRoze]

Here is a bit of a follow up from my local station.....http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11535625

[TeamTwig]

The child's reaction was severe enough that the police were called.

I think this is crap. As the friend of someone who has a very dysfunctional marriage/home life, I can say that in domestic situations, people will often call the cops out of frustration or as a threat... i.e. "You pissed me off so now your going to go to jail" or parents that have reached the end of their rope and don't want to deal with a problematic child anymore, so they make it someone else's problem.
They don't need the police to solve the situation, nobody is in mortal danger.
It sounds like this kid has a history of emotional problems - so get her the help she needs: therapy, medication, etc. Calling the cops and telling them to tase your kid because she's throwing a tantrum is not parenting in my opinion.

[Nicholas]

I don't see an issue. I think the taser should be used more readily, gets the job done faster.

[Terra Mater]

You find it hard to believe that an adult could be unable to subdue a 10 year old child with all the limits they already have on what methods they can use? Then be thankful you do not have one of those children with serious mental/behavioral/emotional issues.

The average height of a ten year old girl is 4 feet 7 inches with an average weight of 77 pounds. Most kids with these issues do not fall within the norm for height and/or weight. Their lower center of gravity coupled with the adults assumptions of a lessened threat from a child combine to give children an immense advantage in taking an off guard opponent down. A well timed kick in the groin or punch in the gut is enough to temporarily disable an opponent.

The average child is not likely to pose much of a threat, but when you add in the rages that many children with mental/behavioral/emotional issues can fall prey to, that threat can and does escalate quickly. When my schizophrenic daughter was 6, she could take down a grown man, She was a darling looking pixie waif of a girl who had the most appealing smile and the most disarming tears. Even now (at 16), the staff at her RTC still underestimate her, with dangerous consequences.

Most of the subduing moves a cop might use on an adult suspect are forbidden to be used on children no matter what the parent says. Currently tasering is still allowed, but as time goes by may be taken away from them as well.

Concerning the severity of the attack, weapons are not the only ways to be deadly. A well placed punch in the throat can collapse a windpipe with as little as 4 pounds of pressure if the shot is lucky and lands straight on. Short, well manicured nails are still long and sharp enough to puncture the skin at the throat (external carotid artery) or in the thigh (femoral) to open up a wound that bleeds out quickly. The very things we teach our children to do to those who might attack them are the very things that a disturbed child can use to attack anyone.

As for what mother tells a cop to taser her child, you would have to be there to understand. When you have a child who has become violent and is beyond reason, the options quickly go out the window. Be thankful you cannot understand it, it means that you have never been in the position of seeing your child turn into a wild animal in as little as 5 seconds with no obvious provocation. When you have to call the cops and/or crisis team you have already acknowledged your own inability to control the situation.

So in summary, without more information not one person here can say that the cop wasn't in danger, the possiblity was there. Even the father's statements do not condemn the decision as it is not uncommon for one parent to be in denial about the severity of their child's condition.

Time to face reality folks, there are some really dangerous kids out there (one of them is mine). They do not mean to be, their parents do not want them to be, and we all want to pretend that our children are too small to be dangerous. Unfortunately, the reality is that any child over the age of six, if they have the intent to cause serious bodily harm is more than capable of it.