12-year-old tased by police officer

[IrishLake]

OK, so I asked my brother what his departments protocol is for something like this, and here is what he said:

"My department's policy states prior to deploying an ECD (Electronic control device aka Taser) the target must be showing "active aggression." This basically means that if someone runs from me or refuses to comply by using deadweight, standing still and tensing up, etc. I should not use the ecd. If they assault, attack, or resist by force (pulling away, grapple with me, etc.) then I would be justified. There is no age limit young or old. I think we're all competent enough not to taze a small child or an elderly person, though. That said, I would not taze someone who was clearly unarmed that was not a threat to me. It's easy to judge someones actions after the fact when that officer had a split second to make a decision during an adrenaline fogged high-stress situation. In the case you asked about, the girl denied physically interfering with her mothers arrest, and claimed she was just crying and telling the officer to not arrest her mother. Obviously if that were the case the use of force would not be justified. Putting myself in that situation and taking into consideration the girl looked to be no more than 90 lbs., I would probably only utilize the ecd if she was physically attacking me or physically attempting to interfere with the arrest. Unfortunately the perception and possible media attention in a situation like this would cause a lot of guys to second guess themselves before using the appropriate amount of force.

I would try to physically control both of them while obviously giving verbal commands, but that's much easier said than done. If the mother was resisting and the daughter was helping her I'd say the ecd would be more than justified for the safety of the officer and in the interest of effecting the arrest."

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by IrishLake

OK, so I asked my brother what his departments protocol is for something like this, and here is what he said:

"My department's policy states prior to deploying an ECD (Electronic control device aka Taser) the target must be showing "active aggression." This basically means that if someone runs from me or refuses to comply by using deadweight, standing still and tensing up, etc. I should not use the ecd. If they assault, attack, or resist by force (pulling away, grapple with me, etc.) then I would be justified. There is no age limit young or old. I think we're all competent enough not to taze a small child or an elderly person, though. That said, I would not taze someone who was clearly unarmed that was not a threat to me. It's easy to judge someones actions after the fact when that officer had a split second to make a decision during an adrenaline fogged high-stress situation. In the case you asked about, the girl denied physically interfering with her mothers arrest, and claimed she was just crying and telling the officer to not arrest her mother. Obviously if that were the case the use of force would not be justified. Putting myself in that situation and taking into consideration the girl looked to be no more than 90 lbs., I would probably only utilize the ecd if she was physically attacking me or physically attempting to interfere with the arrest. Unfortunately the perception and possible media attention in a situation like this would cause a lot of guys to second guess themselves before using the appropriate amount of force.

I would try to physically control both of them while obviously giving verbal commands, but that's much easier said than done. If the mother was resisting and the daughter was helping her I'd say the ecd would be more than justified for the safety of the officer and in the interest of effecting the arrest."

Thanks for sharing your brother's perspective.