12-year-old tased by police officer

[sigmadiva]

Should a 12 year old child get tased? No

Should a 12 year old child get tased by the police? Depends.

There are so many variables to this situation, some we know, some we don't know, that to try to simplify it to one question is absurd.

We don't know the actions or intent of the 12 yr old child in this situation: 1) Maybe she was an innocent by-stander, or 2) maybe in her effort to protect her mom she got in the way of the cop, and the cop maybe felt she was hindering his arrest, so he tased her.

We also don't know the thought process and past experiences of the cop. Maybe he should have waited for backup, or maybe he needed to act fast. Cops have to work in the moment. They don't have the luxury to sit back and debate the philosophical outcomes of their actions. I'm sure if they did, then we would have different outcomes on most situations.

Like someone said, cops want to live another day too. They should have the right to protect themselves if they feel threatened.

And just for the record, I'm not saying that all cops are good, or all cops are bad. But, I am willing to give them some latitude in handling a potentially violent situation since they are first responders.