Police use of Taser on 6-year-old 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 behavioural 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.
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.''
http://www.infowars.net/Pages/Nov_04/131104_tasers.html
Stun gun safety concerns made public
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A ministerial advisory group expressed concern about the safety of stun guns prior to a Victoria Police trial of the weapons, a report obtained under Freedom of Information has revealed.
In the report obtained by a coalition of Victorian legal groups, the advisory group that discussed the possible introduction of Air Tasers said there was a lack of scientific evidence about their safety.
A 12 month trial of the guns by the force's special operations group is expected to end later this month.
In its report, the ministerial advisory group said the use of Tasers had been found to increase the risk of miscarriage in pregnant women, heart attack and stroke in people with cardiovascular disease and sudden death in people taking drugs.
Other groups on whom a Taser should not be used included children, adolescents, older people and people with mental illness.
The ministerial advisory group recommended a scientific evaluation of the guns be carried out.
"In the view of this group, it would not be possible for the Victorian government to make any decision with respect to the introduction of Air Tasers without a proper, evidence-based evaluative process," it said.
The 12 month trial was launched on the basis of a study on Tasers conducted by Melbourne's Alfred hospital.
But the coalition of legal groups described the study as a literature review, saying the guns were dangerous and had resulted in 60 deaths in the United States.
"There is a place for the special operations group in emergency crisis situations to have this as an appropriate alternative to the use of lethal force," Liberty Victoria vice-president Brian Walters SC said.
"But more widespread issuing of them is quite out of place."
Mental Health Legal Centre spokeswoman Kate Lawrence said people with mental illnesses were commonly victims of stun guns.
She said mental health professionals should work with police as they had in the past in crisis situations.
Taser guns work by firing electrode tipped wires from a distance of up to seven metres, the group said.
The two darts deliver a series of short 50,000-volt shocks over five seconds, briefly stunning the target.
[We're
guessing "targets" have no constitutional rights regarding "excessive use of
force" ?]
© 2004 AAP
http://theage.com.au/news/National/Stun-gun-safety-concerns-made-publics/2004/11/12/1100227585782.html?oneclick=true
Student suspended for handstands, cartwheels.
Cartwheels and handstands have gotten an 11-year-old girl temporarily bounced out of her Los Angeles-area school.
Deirdre Faegre was suspended for a week after repeatedly disobeying school officials who told her not to perform gymnastic stunts during lunchtime.
"Our first concern is the safety of all children," San Jose-Edison Academy Principal Denise Patton told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
Patton said Deirdre could accidentally strike another student, or injure herself, and other children could get hurt trying to imitate Deirdre, who has been doing gymnastics for five years.
Deirdre's father, Leland Faegre, said it was absurd to suspend his daughter for doing gymnastics when students were allowed to play basketball and other sports.
"Contact sports, apparently, are fine. But this one is so dangerous it requires the cartwheel cops," Faegre said.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2004/121104studentsuspended.htm