OK to Taser a 10 year old?

[MC1000]

Two police officers were called to a daycare center because a 10 year old autistic boy was having a meltdown. The officers were told the child was autistic and was outside having an outburst. This was not the first time the child had had a meltdown. He was not endangering other childern or himself. The daycare center employees had tried to calm him and get him inside, but were unable to. When the child would not comply to the officers' commands, one veteran office, with well over 25 years of service, slapped the child knocking his head into the outside wall of the daycare center. The other officer, who had been on the force a short time, tasered him.
This became a major issue in this small town. The mayor called for the officers to be fired. The internal investigation by the police dept. found not wrong doing. The courts declined to get involved. After much media and public pressure, the senior officer was allowed to resign (early retirement) with full benefits. The junior officer was put on departmental probation and asked to take a retrainning class.
Anyone care to comment?

 

[Riven650]

What a mess. The police should be very embarrassed indeed. And it wasn't a very good day care centre either, was it?

 

[the_new_godiva]

Totally agree with Riven. This reminds me of that poor Polish guy that got tasered to death in Vancouver in... 2006? Helpless and unable to communicate, both that man and this child.

Why the fuck do they even have tasers?

 

[Bbucko]

Under no circumstances should a Taser be used on any child, let alone one with Autism. The fact that the police's internal investigation showed "no wrong doing" is a surprise to no one who's ever dealt with local police on any level whatsoever in the US over the last ten years or so.

 

[Mr. Snakey]

I assume this is the story you are talking about. This happened back in April. I agree. This was uncalled for.
Cops Who Tasered 10-Year-Old Spark Outrage from Mayor and Citizens - Crimesider - CBS News

 

[B_subgirrl]

I would fucking kill them if it were my child. Not acceptable.

I don't even get why the police were called. Unless the kid was abnormally huge, at 10 he could be grabbed and held and taken to a quiet room to calm down.

 

[B_VinylBoy]

I swear, if I didn't see the link to the story I would have thought this was a lie.
Amazing how stupid people get into positions of power then do something as ridiculous as this. And to think he was only "suspended with pay" for his actions. Someone should taser this Keystone Kop's balls.

 

[colleville]

Folks,
Unfortunately, Police are often called unnecessarily to mental health issues as a last resort. They are often not trained in anyway to deal with these issues which are not a law enforcement matter anyway. This is a community issue where there needs to be adequate mental health care available.
Whilst I'm not in anyway defending the Police on the info in the initial report they appear to have acted with unnecessary actions, (Tasering a 10yr old wow) but always remember unless you were there .... you will never understand what happened in context.
Whilst its fine for the Mayor to respond about the police maybe the mayor should address mental health facility issues first.
C

 

[unabear09]

Folks,
Unfortunately, Police are often called unnecessarily to mental health issues as a last resort. They are often not trained in anyway to deal with these issues which are not a law enforcement matter anyway. This is a community issue where there needs to be adequate mental health care available.
Whilst I'm not in anyway defending the Police on the info in the initial report they appear to have acted with unnecessary actions, (Tasering a 10yr old wow) but always remember unless you were there .... you will never understand what happened in context.
Whilst its fine for the Mayor to respond about the police maybe the mayor should address mental health facility issues first.
C

Not gonna bother to read the story, but the cops, if were an absolute necessity, should have been in the background controlling the surrounding scene making sure no one got involved that shouldn't be involved.

An EMT should have arrived on the scene, assessed the situation, reported to a medical doctor, and then be given clearance to administor a tranquilizer to sedate the child. No other person aside from the child's parents or a medical representative should have ever laid a hand or anything else on that kid.

This story is just another reason why I don't like and don't trust cops. They always show up and take charge of situations they have no business being in charge of. Both cops should have been fired on the spot. No pension, no unemployment, no anything aside from jail time.

 

[aviators]

both cops should have been fired! the child is freaking autistic he can't control his actions half the time. no one in their right mind should ever hit a child, and the fact that they tasered the poor kid just shows how they don't know how to handle those situations no matter their rank, and the daycare should be sued! and i totally agree they should have called the parents first, then medical assistance *if needed*.
both cops should have been fired!
Daycare should be sued!

 

[colleville]

Folks,
Again your comments re-inforce my point this was not a police matter, they should not have been called but the fact they were highlights my point they acted wrongly, most likely due to the lack of training.
But what of the child care people - havent they dealt with the 10yr old before, knew of his issues and medical history, and have a plan to deal with him.
Maybe the police are an easy target BUT the wider issues really need to be explored especially dealing with health care issues.
C

 

[aviators]

Folks,
Again your comments re-inforce my point this was not a police matter, they should not have been called but the fact they were highlights my point they acted wrongly, most likely due to the lack of training.
But what of the child care people - havent they dealt with the 10yr old before, knew of his issues and medical history, and have a plan to deal with him.
Maybe the police are an easy target BUT the wider issues really need to be explored especially dealing with health care issues.
C

that's why i said they, the parents, should sue the daycare

 

[Krusader]

So much for non lethal weapons

 

[luka82]

Unacceptable.
A child should never be tasered.
I agree that this wasn`t a police matter.
I mean to taser a child????? Any child??? And a child with autism, Jesus!
They don`t have to be trained to know what autism is, right?
Oh my God! I still can`t believe it!!!!

 

[AlteredEgo]

Many Autistic people respond well to being held. A very close friend of mine responds best to being rolled up in a rug, and sat on. It's extreme, but she told me she's able to get herself together when she's wrapped up tightly.

My elementary school and middle school had Autistic children when I was growing up. We found it hard not to laugh, as children, when one of them was freaking out. We never thought of them as dangerous. What I normally saw happen during a meltdown, was all the other students were ushered away, especially the other Autistic children. Each corridor had two "calm rooms". The child in crisis would be ushered into one of those as soon as possible. I've seen teachers and aids lock themselves in with a screaming, flailing child, and I've seen them lock the child in, and observe through the window. I never saw an issue last longer than 20 minutes, and almost never saw one last that long. I saw teachers and aids get punched and kicked, but that too seemed rare.

I wonder what went wrong that these people decided to involve police. Why wouldn't they call the child's parents first? I am biased, however. I do not trust or expect any positive outcome if police get involved in a situation.

 

[AlteredEgo]

Unacceptable.
A child should never be tasered.
I agree that this wasn`t a police matter.
I mean to taser a child????? Any child??? And a child with autism, Jesus!
They don`t have to be trained to know what autism is, right?
Oh my God! I still can`t believe it!!!!

Luka, a recent report my husband showed me said 5% of Americans could not identify the USA on a world map. I am not surprised if some cop doesn't know what Autism is, or Tasers some poor kid.

 

[vince]

"Another woman, identified as the boy's guardian, also was on the porch,"

So his guardian was there. I guess he is not in the care of his parents.

"It was the second time police had been called to the day care for an incident involving the boy, who was not identified."

They were already aware of the boy and his problems. They had dealt with him before. Yet they still reacted with force to his mental health incident. They should have lost their jobs.

Yes the daycare should be investigated. Is the staff qualified to deal with autistic children? If not, why did the guardian allow him to be in their care?

I hope this incident spurs the town into action that improves health care for their mentally disabled citizens.

 

[luka82]

Luka, a recent report my husband showed me said 5% of Americans could not identify the USA on a world map. I am not surprised if some cop doesn't know what Autism is, or Tasers some poor kid.

Oh my.
Listen, we do have some dumbass policemen here, probably more than you guys in the States do, but I believe that my country (we are rather small, so such news would be all over and on every station) would react properly. I believe those men wouldn`t have a job here any more. They wouldn`t retire with all the benefits.
And knowing how big your country is, 5% is a lot of people. :frown1:

 

[Mr. Snakey]

The posting of this taser incident reminded me of this one . A 72 year old woman in Texas was pulled over for speeding. This happened in June. Caught on tape. I understand the taser gun saves lives. Rather than have a cop use a gun and perhaps kill somebody, it is simply disabling the person. However i think there is abuse of the taser gun going on. This video is very disturbing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yWaE8tTlsc

 

[B_subgirrl]

Many Autistic people respond well to being held. A very close friend of mine responds best to being rolled up in a rug, and sat on. It's extreme, but she told me she's able to get herself together when she's wrapped up tightly.

My elementary school and middle school had Autistic children when I was growing up. We found it hard not to laugh, as children, when one of them was freaking out. We never thought of them as dangerous. What I normally saw happen during a meltdown, was all the other students were ushered away, especially the other Autistic children. Each corridor had two "calm rooms". The child in crisis would be ushered into one of those as soon as possible. I've seen teachers and aids lock themselves in with a screaming, flailing child, and I've seen them lock the child in, and observe through the window. I never saw an issue last longer than 20 minutes, and almost never saw one last that long. I saw teachers and aids get punched and kicked, but that too seemed rare.

I wonder what went wrong that these people decided to involve police. Why wouldn't they call the child's parents first? I am biased, however. I do not trust or expect any positive outcome if police get involved in a situation.

Having known autistic children, this is all pretty much what I was thinking - just too lazy to type it in that much detail.