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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: Police Use Taser on 6 Year-Old At School Miami-Dade police shocked a 6-year-old boy with a 50,000-volt stun gun to keep him from hurting himself with a piece of glass he was waving around in a school office, officials confirmed Thursday. Police say they followed their Taser guidelines, the child wasn't injured by the shock and he might have hurt himself seriously if they hadn't shocked him. But the incident, which occurred Oct. 20 at Kelsey Pharr Elementary in Brownsville, has child advocates and experts shaking their heads in disbelief. ''It just sounds excessive to me to Taser gun a 6-year-old when everyone else around there were adults,'' said retired Broward County Juvenile Judge Frank Orlando, who runs a youth-law clinic at Nova Southeastern University. ``They couldn't subdue a 6-year-old? Must have been a pretty big kid.'' Police Director Bobby Parker said his department is reviewing the incident, but he defended the officer's decision to use the stun gun. ''We know the child was not harmed other than the little tiny probe pricks you get with the Taser,'' Parker said. 'What we do not know is if the child would or would not have subsequently cut his vein. Had the child cut his vein and the officer had not Tasered the child, somebody would be saying, `Well, you had the Taser. Why didn't you Taser the child?' '' The boy, who has not been identified, had broken a picture frame in the assistant principal's office and was keeping a security guard at bay when the principal called 911. The police report did not say why the boy was so agitated, but principal Maria Mason told police he had a history of behavioral problems. Mason declined to comment Thursday. By the time Miami-Dade Officers Marie Abbott and Yolanda Rivera and schools police Officer Valerie Staten arrived, the boy had a cut under his right eye and another on his left hand. The officers tried to get him to put down the shard, according to the police report. Abbott slid a trash can, hoping the boy would throw the glass away. When he wouldn't, Rivera contacted a supervisor to see if there was a policy prohibiting the use of a stun gun on a child. There isn't, and the officer was told to do what she felt was necessary. The officers continued to talk to the child, who didn't respond. When he tried to cut his own thigh, the officers acted. Abbott shocked him with her Taser while Rivera grabbed him before he collapsed. The boy was treated by paramedics at the school and taken to Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he was committed for psychiatric evaluation. RESOLVED SITUATION ''By using the Taser, we were able to stop the situation, stop him from hurting himself,'' police spokesman Juan DelCastillo said. ``We inflicted no injuries on him. We were able to take him to the hospital, and hopefully he's going to get the mental health attention he needs. ''Sure, he could have been tackled and maybe injured, maybe his arm broken or maybe that glass could have cut him in a critical area,'' DelCastillo said. The schools police are also reviewing the incident to ''determine if we need any kind of clearer understanding between the two agencies,'' said Joseph Garcia, school district spokesman. ''We're not going to second-guess officers who were trying to come to the aid of a child who was in fairly desperate straits,'' he said, adding that schools police don't carry Tasers. The two Miami-Dade officers arrived first at the school, 2000 NW 46th St., because the schools officer was farther away, Garcia said. The incident concerned some community leaders and child advocates. ''I really can't believe they did that,'' said County Commissioner Joe Martinez, a former Miami-Dade police officer. ``This might be a good opportunity to review our policy.'' Some police departments, including the city of Miami, prohibit using a Taser on a child except in cases in which the only other option is to shoot the child with a gun. The Miramar and Coral Springs police departments also equip their officers with Tasers, but do not have policies on who can be shocked. Miami-Dade -- which plans to issue Tasers to all patrol officers -- only prohibits using the Taser on pregnant women, but its policy does not mention children. Miami-Dade Public Defender Bennett Brummer suggested the department also review its critical-incident training. ''It appears that the officers felt it was necessary to use a Taser to gain control of a 6-year-old,'' he said. ``This is a drastic measure that would not be permitted by other police departments and is troubling. ''Perhaps they could rely on the experience of the city of Miami with the improvements the city made in its crisis-intervention training,'' he said. Sgt. Mike Barry, the officer in charge of training Miami-Dade police on the Tasers, declined to discuss the specifics of the case, but said all officers receive eight hours of training, and Abbott was issued her Taser in July. He added that the Kelsey Pharr boy was the youngest child Miami-Dade officers have shocked with a Taser. Parker called the Miami police policy flawed. ''Are you telling me that the city's policy is to let that child bleed out rather than Tasing them?'' Parker said. ``If that's their policy, potentially it's flawed. . . . Common sense dictates that unless it's extreme circumstances, you will not Tase a child. But we can't take that discretion away from the officer.'' Miami-Dade School Board Vice Chairman Robert Ingram, who spent 20 years as a Miami police officer and more than five years as Opa-locka police chief, said board members were not told of the incident. He learned of it from a reporter. ''The question is: You're standing there and what will provide the greater injury -- my trying to get the glass from him or using the Taser?'' Ingram said. ``It seems like the greater harm would come from the Taser.'' He was concerned about using a Taser on a young child. ''We've heard of people having heart failure with a Taser,'' he said. ``What happens when you hit a 6-year-old with an adult dose?'' In September, a Broward County attorney died after being shocked with a Taser by Miami police. Autopsy results have not been released, but police believe he died of a drug overdose. DESIGNED FOR ADULTS Former Miami-Dade medical examiner Joe Davis said he didn't know whether Taser effects on a child would be different than those on an adult. But he worried the stun guns weren't tested on children. ''Those things are designed for adults; they're not designed for children,'' he said. ``The whole idea is to disarm somebody who's a real threat. It's a substitute for shooting the person. ``When you start using it for other things, for potty training, that's not too good.'' However, Kenneth Goodman, co-director of the University of Miami's Ethics Programs, pointed out the officer had to quickly weigh a difficult set of circumstances. ''The core issue here is, did the cop believe that the failure to use this device would have increased the risk or caused a risk of the child being hurt worse,'' Goodman said. ``I wasn't there and I wouldn't second-guess a cop who is making that decision under fraught circumstances in the heat of the moment.''
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#9. To: FormerLurker (#0)
When people do bad things, they always have to justify to themselves that what they are doing is a good thing. That includes the police Tazering a six-yer-old. "We did it to protect him!"
It's ok for cops to tazer a 6 year-old, but God forbid if his parents were to give a swat on his little bum, that'd be child abuse...
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