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A Tale of Two Tasings

Now this is something you don’t hear about everyday.  Not one, but two incidents involving tasing, local law enforcement and pre-teens.

Two Martinsville police officers are on administrative leave for using a taser on an out-of-control 10-year old.  Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is defending an officer’s use of a taser to subdue an 11-year old.

The facts in both situations are pretty similar, police were called to a disturbance, they worked to subdue the kids, normal methods didn’t work, next thing you know, ZAP!

I’m not really sure where I come down on this one yet.  I believe that officers should respond with the force and methods necessary to get a situation under control,  however there is something to be said about the force necessary to subdue 10 and 11-year olds.

I think the bigger issue though is what is, or in this case, isn’t going on in the homes of these children that got them to this point in the first place.  Apparently no one ever put down any boundaries or told these children that there were consequences for their actions.

In the Martinsville case, the police had been called to the day care before regarding the child.  And in the Indianapolis case it looks like the child’s home was a magnet for police visits.

So with all that going on, is anyone surprised that the kids ended up getting tased?  The sad part if someone doesn’t intervene soon, when the kids get a little older and have a run-in with the law they may be on the receiving end of something a lot more serious than a taser.

Posted: 04|5|10 at 12:00 pm by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
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  • A. D.

    Police cannot win in these situations. They do nothing, and people complain because they did nothing. They cuff and stuff em and they are perpetuating the system. They restrain the kids and its abuse. They tase them and its front page news. Meanwhile these little sh**s have no respect, are violent when they don't get their way. Some of them are really intent on causing harm. Its real easy to sit back and read these stories criticize. Until you have had to handle some of these kids you have no idea what they are capable of.

  • Think Again

    My next-door neighbor is 12, mows my yard, and is bigger than you, Abdul.

    Just sayin.' If I didn't know him, and I arrived at his home as an LEO to assist someone, I might assume he was 20-23. He started shaving a year ago. No I'm not kidding.

    Tasing is, properly-used, an acceptable method of controlling a subject without injury. I know many LEOs who sing its praises.

    There can be abuses, of course. And your question about the parental influence is appropriate.

  • pogden297

    Sorry, TA. I don't agree. Even if a 10 or 11 year old is “bigger” than an adult, they rarely have anything approaching the physical strength of an adult. In an altercation with a highly trained police officer 99% of them wouldn't have a prayer of overpowering the officer.

    A couple years ago, I was playing tackle football in my backyard with two 15 year olds. Both were bigger than me. One was about 6 feet, 230 pounds. The other guy was even taller and pushing 300 pounds. (He later played on the line for one of the big high schools in Indiana. I, a middle age man, had absolutely no problem throwing them around like they were nothing. They were big…but they did not have anything close to the physical strength of an average adult male.

    I do agree though that you might not be able to tell sometimes whether someone underage is in fact underage. That to me is the only excuse for tasering a child.

  • guest

    I remember a friend of mine was killed many years ago. A small boy about 10 years old ran up to him asking for candy. The boy then pulled the pin out of a grenade. Age has nothing to do with ones capability to harm another.

  • agman

    This is a tough one: a) do nothing and be condemned and possibly more danger to others; b) use the “force” tactics taught on the force charts and be accused of abusing “a child” as these can result in broken bones and torn muscles; c) move to the non lethal force of the taser. I sit on a town council when the issue of tasers was brought up and at first I was the only dissenting member (other two were police officers) but research and discussions from across the country convinced me that it was a safer alternative than possible outcome for subject and officers. While I did not volunteer to be demonstrated on (all our local officers must agree before being issued right to carry) I have been told it is far less of a shock than from a sparkplug or electric fence–more like from a christmas tree light short. For most it immediately renders the person incapable of resistance then restraining can be accomplished. Disclosurer: do have a son who is a police officer in a major western city where tasers are also the choice right before deadly force (for offender and officer.)
    I am sure there will be further outcries against its usage and the best course of action will be dictated without regard to reality.

  • Hector

    I agree TA. A police officer can not take the time to card a young person to verify the age before tasing. It is a split second decision. Playing football with a teen and dealing with an enraged out of control 11 year old are two different situations. If only parents would…………………………..

  • IndyAries

    Back 'in the day', a parent could discipline their kids. Heck, other adults could discipline your kids.

    Nowadays, your kid could very well turn you in to the government for 'abuse', whether you beat their ass, or simply take their iPod away from them.

    It's ridiculous, and I blame liberals for this.

  • pogden297

    Actually I agree with the part about the age verification and a lack of a time. I don't agree though with tasering someone you know is a child regardless of what he or she does.

  • pogden297

    I am shocked that so many people actually support tasering 10 and 11 year old kids. I agree if the officer is honestly unclear of the age and thins they are much older. But if they have any idea they're that young…no way. On the one in Martinsville, the police were going to a day care facility. They knew perfectly well how young the child was.

  • John Doe

    “I am shocked that so many people actually support tasering 10 and 11 year old kids.”

    Well, after lawsuit after lawsuit and front page story after front page story about “manhandling” younger suspects/individuals, what do you expect? I don't really support using the Taser, but this is what happens when society goes nuts every time an officer even touches a person. “What is _really_ necessary?” “Why did you have to touch/strike them _that_ way?”

    Police used to grab up folks all the time, but now most are scared too because of what usually follows. As such, most figure if the Taser is issued, and it isn't that bad, why not use it instead?

    How many here understand the Taser, how it works, and how it was used in both these cases? The Taser works as a Taser that fires two darts with wires or as a bodily contact weapon like a stun gun. In these cases, the officers had already removed the cartridge from the Taser, meaning they would physically have to _touch_ the device to the person. There was no shooting darts into these kids. I got “hit” by a Taser in this mode. I placed my hand on the Taser. My boss pulled the trigger, and I jerked my hand back, fast. It was a little stronger than the stun guns I had been struck with, but the pain only last until the body is no longer in contact with _both_ probes. Later, it felt like I had just done some curls with weights.

    Given that, I don't think I would use a Taser on a kid. I would rather have the $#!t storm that is “OMG, an officer manhandled a CHILD!!” than “OMG, an officer Tasered a CHILD!!” Given the pussyification of the US, it is no wonder cops no longer want to lay a hand on anyone. Unfortunately that means they will turn to a device which really has been proven to work: The Taser.

    Paul, I'm sorry you are shocked so many folks support the tasering of 10 to 11 year olds. All I can tell you: Make sure you don't pick them to be on the jury when you file your lawsuits!! Haha…just kidding with yea.

  • big shug

    i guess it would be a lot better if the cops would physically restrain these kids and maybe accidentally seriously injure them. or just give 'em a 1 or 2 second jolt to change their attitude and do what they are told.

  • dje3

    This is just more BS from law enforcement. In other countries special and continued training exists for officers, in the form of martial arts. A baton can be used without a blow of any kind to subdue the biggest baddest guy in the world if one is trained.

    The issue is lack of professionalism entirely. We have six week wonders in police academies. They do not know law. They do not know defense, they do not know martial arts. They overstep the constitution and create distrust int he police and government.

    As to tasers. Please check the death rate of healthy persons tased. Please remember that the heart is ELECTRICALLY controlled as well as the brain. There is enough voltage and amperage to KILL every time a taser is used.

    The VERY minimum should be the facing of a shooting board (as if lethal force was used as it in fact was used) every time an officer uses a taser. A public board of NON-officers should be reviewing it, not the police. A police adviser and a legal adviser should be allowed to help make determination of legal questions.

    I am against the use of tasers and as much as possible the drawing of ANY weapon by a police officer. In fact I am beginning to believe that officers should be like Bobbies, no guns unless ordered for a particular issue. The fact that officers carry guns may actually be causing more us of guns by others. Please remember the words of our founding fathers regarding this.

  • malercous

    Abdul; You not sure where you come down on tasing 10-11 yr. old kids? Really? That's not even “compassionate conservatism.” (As if such a thing ever existed.) Hell, my father was a conservative, and even he waited until I was a teenager before he tased me. Actually, we didn't have “tasers” back then, but cattle-prods were close enough.
    If a LE officer cannot subdue an 11 yr. old kid, that person is definetly not fit to serve. It takes a special kind of wimpleton who feels the need to tase a kid. Even a 10 yr. old with retard-strength is not a match for a trained LE officer, and you're “not sure” where you come down on tasing kids? Wow.