11:22 AM - Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004
50,000 VOLTS and a Cigar....
Why is this Happening? Who is allowing it?
Police use of Taser on child riles Miami
South Florida Sun Sentinal | Nov 13 2004
Parents and community leaders are outraged that a Miami-Dade County police officer used a stun gun to subdue a 6-year-old boy who was using a shard of glass to cut himself and hold a security officer at bay.
Many said they couldn't fathom why an adult used a Taser to shock a first-grader rather than restraining him.
"I couldn't imagine why a police officer would use that kind of device on a child," said Marvin Dunn, a psychology professor at Florida International University who was formerly a principal at an alternative school. "I can restrain a 6-year-old with one hand. I don't get it."
The incident occurred Oct. 20 inside the principal's office at Kelsey L. Pharr Elementary School, police said. The unidentified child, who has a history of behavioral problems, was alone in the office with a school security officer.
Principal Maria Mason told police she heard glass breaking and rushed into her office where the boy was bleeding and holding a piece of glass he'd taken out of a picture frame he broke with his fist.
By the time school district and Miami-Dade police officers arrived, the boy had cut himself under his right eye, was bleeding from his left hand and was smearing blood over his face, according to police reports.
An officer then slid a trash can toward the boy and tried to persuade him to throw away the glass. The boy responded by tightening his grip on the glass, the reports said.
As officers continued trying to calm the boy, he began cutting his leg, police said. That's when Miami-Dade Officer Maria Abbott fired the stun gun. The probes hit the boy in the middle of his torso and the bottom of his shirt.
"To further prevent the student from injuring himself, the officer felt she needed to deploy the stun gun," police Detective Randy Rossman said.
Officers then grabbed him and took away the glass, police said. Paramedics checked the boy's injuries, which consisted of the area where he was stunned and the cuts on his hand and face. The boy was committed for psychiatric evaluation.
Miami-Dade police policy prohibits the use of Tasers only against pregnant women. Before the officer used the stun gun on the boy, Miami-Dade Officer Yolanda Rivera, who was on the scene, called a sergeant and verified its use was within department policy.
Rossman said the department's administration was reviewing its Taser policy.
Dunn said there are methods of physically restraining children and dealing with emotionally disturbed children. Clearing the room and having just one person speaking calmly to the child could have been one option, he said.
"You simply escalate the situation when you bring more adults into the picture," Dunn said.
nEo: As if that wasn't bad enough, there's this.....
Police Tasered truant girl, 12
Miami Herald | Nov 13 2004
A Miami-Dade police officer used a Taser to stop an unarmed, 12-year-old girl who was running away from him after she was caught skipping school, police acknowledged Friday night.
The incident happened Nov. 5, just over two weeks after other Miami-Dade officers used a stun gun to restrain a first-grader. In that case, police said the 6-year-old boy was holding a shard of glass and threatening to cut himself. Police Director Bobby Parker defended the decision to shock the boy because he could have seriously hurt himself.
But Parker said Friday that he could not defend the decision to shock the fleeing 12-year-old, who was apparently drunk.
''Under the circumstances, we thought that he should not have used the Taser,'' Parker said referring to the officer. ``It's likely that discipline will be forthcoming.''
According to the incident report:
Officer William Nelson responded to an anonymous complaint that some kids were swimming in a West Kendall pool, drinking alcohol and smoking cigars about 11 a.m.
Nelson said he noticed the girl was intoxicated and told her to get dressed so he could take her back to school.
''While walking [the girl] to the police car, [she] took off running through the parking lot,'' Nelson wrote in his report.
Nelson, 38, a 15-year veteran, said he chased her and yelled several times for her to stop. Nelson said he pulled out the Taser and fired when the girl began to run into traffic.
The electric probes hit the girl in the neck and lower back, immobilizing her with 50,000 volts.
Nelson said he fired ''for my safety(??) along with [the girl's] safety.'' He could not be reached for comment.
Paramedics treated the girl, who went home with her mother.
Parker said department policy permits officers to use the Taser to apprehend someone, but he said he expected his officers to use better judgment -- especially when police had no plans to arrest someone playing hooky.
''If you use it to apprehend an adult, it would be an arrest kind of situation,'' said Parker, adding that the timing of the latest incident couldn't be any worse.
His department is already under fire for using a Taser to subdue the 6-year-old last month. That zapping has made national headlines and prompted calls from child advocates that Miami-Dade review its Taser use.
Parker said Friday night that his department will review its Taser policy. ''That doesn't mean that we're going to change it,'' he said.
County Commissioner Joe Martinez, a former Miami-Dade officer, said the policy needs to be tightened.
''When you have a 6-year-old who is on medication and very disturbed, maybe some of that crisis intervention training would be very handy,'' he said, referring to a program that teaches officers how to deal with the mentally ill. ``Now, when I learn that a 12-year-old girl was running away, truant, and was also Tasered, I think it's time we instruct the county manager to look at that policy.''
Asked if his officers had shocked any other kids, Parker said: ``I asked the same question, are there more of these out there that I'm not aware of? To my knowledge this is the only one.''
nEo
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
-- Hermann Goering, at the Nuremberg trials
