Cops taze 8 year old girl

[Ruffdaddy]

I would think that you can fairly quickly assess the demeanor of an 8-year old, in terms of dangerous or not. There is an immediately discernible difference between a generally uncooperative, but docile child and Chucky.

Exactly...so a short time frame doesn't indicate laziness

[jewozzy]

Does the original story clarify for anyone interested?

Parents consider legal action after South Dakota police use Taser on 8-year-old girl
COLLAPSE STORY
BY M. ALEX JOHNSON, STAFF WRITER
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE
A 2011 report on police use of Tasers by the U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Justice said Taser use on children "should be avoided." Click the cover to read the full report in .pdf form.
The parents of an 8-year-old South Dakota girl want the police officer who stunned their daughter with a Taser disciplined, but the police chief said Wednesday that the officer acted properly and may have saved the little girl's life.

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Pierre Police Chief Bob Grandpre told Dakota Radio Group News that the incident happened Friday night after a baby-sitter called to report that the girl had stabbed herself in the leg and was making comments about suicide.

The girl — whose identity hasn't been released because she is a juvenile — was holding a 4½-inch knife and refused to put it down when the three officers arrived, he said.

Grandpre said the child had the tip of the knife to her chest and then moved toward a hallway that could have taken her out of the officers' sight, posing a potential threat.

When one of the officers approached her, the girl pointed the knife at the officer and then back at herself, Grandpre said. That's when the officer used the Taser, whose prongs lodged in her chest and stomach, Grandpre said.

"We have a juvenile that's threatening to kill themselves, and we have very few options that they had to run through, so they made the decision to disarm the juvenile for the safety of all involved," he said. "Our initial review is it looks like we followed our department policy and training."

The girl — who medical personnel said showed no stab wounds on her leg — was observed for a few hours and released to the custody of her parents. The conduct of the officer — who also hasn't been identified — remains under review and he remains on the job.

Grandpre told the Argus Leader newspaper of Sioux Falls that "we can't control if the threat is 8 or 80" and said the Taser was the least forceful way to get the girl under control.

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"He quite possibly saved the juvenile's life that night," he told the newspaper.

But the girl's parents were incensed, saying they were considering suing the police department.

The girl's mother, Dawn Stenstrom, said her daughter, who was being supervised by a babysitter that night, was merely playing around with a small paring knife.

"How much harm could she have done?" Stenstrom asked in an interview with the Argus-Leader, adding that the girl had never before had to be physically restrained.

Bobby Jones, the girl's father, told the newspaper: "Tasers are for grown adults, not 8-year-old girls. They say it was for her own safety, but there is no justification for that.

"Her acting out got her tased," he said.

Grandpre said in the radio interview that he had spoken with both parents and understood their concerns.

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"As a parent, I get that," he said. "This is an unusual set of circumstances."

The chief confirmed that Pierre police had never before used a Taser on someone so young and added: "I understand why there's a lot of attention to this, and there should be."

"We don't get to choose the situations we get called to, and the officers do the best they can when they are to make sure there's a positive outcome," he said.

Tasers — which aren't classified as firearms and regulated under federal weapons laws — use a brief jolt of high electrical current to incapacitate a subject. They're considered among law enforcement agencies to be a much safer and less-forceful way to subdue a subject than traditional firearms.

But in a 2011 report on police use of Tasers and other so-called nonlethal weapons (.pdf), the U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Justice said Taser safety data "may not be applicable to small children." It said using Tasers on children "should be avoided, but may be necessary if conditions exclude other reasonable choices."

First published October 9th 2013, 5:14 pm

[ELVIS]

lolz at people scared of an 8yr old. id prolly walk up really slow and speak in a soft, calming voice and slap the fuck out of her. pick the knife up, hand it to the mom and dad then go reward myself with a couple of bearclaws.

god bless.

[CexMashean]

I think the police should have let the babysitter light her ass up. Clearly she wasn't getting paid enough to deal with that little fucker.

[Cooter]

fuck that kid...

[Broncojohnny]

Hilarious that anyone would advocate using a taser on a kid. I have seen it all now.

[davbrucas]

Hilarious that anyone would advocate using a taser on a kid. I have seen it all now.

Going home at all costs...

[dcs13]

Hilarious that anyone would advocate using a taser on a kid. I have seen it all now.

She won't pull that shit again I bet...

[talisman]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- An 8-year-old boy was taken into custody after police say he stabbed his four-year-old sister in the neck.

This isn't much of a rebuttal unless you're trying to draw a parallel between 4 or 5 adults and a 4 year old.

[Ruffdaddy]

Like I said...if this girl successfully kills herself the cops would still be blamed. It's good to know everyone is 100% certain that the girl wasn't going to turn the corner and harm herself.

[Sgt Beavis]

My Mom used to babysit this kid that was 9 and totally nuts. He used to chase his own mother with a big ass knife. He did that to my Mom once and she knocked him flat on his ass. Never happened again.

BTW, the kid grew up and was eventually committed to a sanitarium.

[LS1Goat]

I'd be interesting in the time frame things happened, part of me thinks they walked in the door and tased her out of laziness.

Report by the State Attorney

http://www.drgnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Report-on-2013-Tasing-Incident.pdf

[ftp]

I'd probably tase her too. Why should I risk getting cut just because its an 8 year old girl? Are 8 year old girls incapable of cutting people?

If you can't contain a 8 year old you shouldn't be a cop. If you're so fucking worried about "risk" you should retire you fucking pussy.

[idrivea4banger]

lolz at people scared of an 8yr old. id prolly walk up really slow and speak in a soft, calming voice and slap the fuck out of her. pick the knife up, hand it to the mom and dad then go reward myself with a couple of bearclaws.

god bless.

Mah nigga!

[Scott Mc]

Hilarious that anyone would advocate using a taser on a kid. I have seen it all now.

To protect and serve!

This isn't much of a rebuttal unless you're trying to draw a parallel between 4 or 5 adults and a 4 year old.

like a child has the strength or knowledge on how to fatality wound a person with a house knife.

Like I said...if this girl successfully kills herself the cops would still be blamed. It's good to know everyone is 100% certain that the girl wasn't going to turn the corner and harm herself.

Seriously man, not to bust your trolling but hitting a 40 lb kid with that type of amperage could have killed her, then what type of lawsuit would they have had? You are either bored or afraid of 8 year old girls. Elvis has a decent game plan for the record.

If you can't contain a 8 year old you shouldn't be a cop. If you're so fucking worried about "risk" you should retire you fucking pussy.

Exactly.