School officer tasers 11 year old

[Richards 0]

Sixth Grader Tasered At Middle School

POSTED: 5:12 pm EST November 29, 2006
UPDATED: 6:22 pm EST November 29, 2006

JONESBORO -- Officials at Jonesboro Middle School say police tasered an 11-year-old student Wednesday as a last resort. The incident immediately prompted an internal police investigation.

Channel 2 was told the incident began after something happened at lunch to spark a verbal argument between two 6th graders. The verbal argument turned physical and a school resource officer with the Jonesboro Police Department says she had to resort to using a taser.

Channel 2 cameras were rolling when police left Jonesboro Middle School with what appeared to be a male student handcuffed in the backseat.

SURVEY: Tasers At School?

School officials confirm that an 11-year-old, 6th grade male was tasered by a school resource officer. They say the boy was physically assaulting a female 6th grader and refused to listen to verbal commands to stop. As a last resort the officer tasered the boy twice – once to get the students separated and a second time when the boy tried to attack the girl again.

The male student was taken to juvenile detention – the female was treated by emergency personnel and released to her parents.

Opinions are split on whether this kind of force should be used a school.

“I would tell them if my child got out of hand and they couldn’t control him they would have to taser him,” said one parent. “I know what it is and it doesn’t scare me – so long as it’s used properly it’s not serious.”

“No, it is not necessary…school is a safe place, right?” said parent Syeda Nessa. “They don’t need that, they don’t need that in the school.”

Channel 2 tried to speak with Jonesboro Police but they refused to comment pending an on-going internal affairs investigation into the incident.
Copyright 2006 by WSBTV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.***

OK. I know I don't have all the facts but tasering an 11 year old????

Am I being a big wuss by saying that is a wee bit excessive. I am aware that kids are getting more violent these days but I have a hard time seeing an adult feeling the need to use that kind of force on a kid. How about pick the little fucker up while he screams and tantrums, but......taser?...Twice?

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[AggieDave 6]

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Opinions are split on whether this kind of force should be used a school.

Its still less then deadly force, which has been called for at schools before.

Whats left out is the kid's size. My cousin is 11 and is nearly 6' tall and 180lbs. Of course that's an extreme, but still, we don't have all the facts. Obviously on the surface its easy to go "WTF?" I did upon reading this.

However, I do my best not to arm-chair-quarterback this sorts of situations since I wan't there and the media does not give us all the correct facts. Just like in skydiving incidents in the media, when it comes to actions of LEOs the media typically screws up the facts.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Richards 0]

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However, I do my best not to arm-chair-quarterback

Why not? It is the easiest job in the world, and the best part is..everyone else is wrong.

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this sorts of situations since I wan't there and the media does not give us all the correct facts.

Agree 100%. I still can't help but want to know wtf led up to it.

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[AggieDave 6]

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Why not? It is the easiest job in the world, and the best part is..everyone else is wrong.

Sure, but my name isn't Colt McCoy, so I'm by no means the best arm-chair-quarterback.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[kelpdiver 2]

so was the boy really so pissed that he still went after the girl despite being tasered? Or did it miss?

This particularly situation sounds like a perfect use for a billy stick from behind. (strapping on my QB pads) I've been watching a lot of season 2 of Arrested Development.

[FallRate 0]

If an officer cannot control a single 11-year old boy, regardless of that boy's size, without resorting to the use of a taser, that officer should apply for a greeter position at the nearest Wal-Mart.

FallRate

[jenfly00 0]

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If an officer cannot control a single 11-year old boy, regardless of that boy's size, without resorting to the use of a taser, that officer should apply for a greeter position at the nearest Wal-Mart.

FallRate

In mental health settings, it's recommended that at least three trained individuals are required to safely contain and restrain someone out of control.

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"O brave new world that has such people in it".

[billvon 2,792]

> If an officer cannot control a single 11-year old boy . . .

An unarmed 11-year old boy at that. I mean, what if he had been armed with a stick? Or worse yet, a banana?

[seedy 0]

The resource officer was female - and I have seen some 11-year olds that were close to 6' tall. It was all I could do to wrestle my 11-year old grandson when we were having fun. Hard to imagine what it would have been like if he was out of control.

I intend to live forever -- so far, so good.

[freethefly 6]

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The resource officer was female - and I have seen some 11-year olds that were close to 6' tall. It was all I could do to wrestle my 11-year old grandson when we were having fun. Hard to imagine what it would have been like if he was out of control.

Kinda stupid to hire people who cannot handle an 11 year old kid. Lucky that she wasn't carrying a Glock. "He was a big 11 year old so, yes I emptied the clip and reloaded an emptied it again just to make sure". Hell, ya wouldn't hire dwarfs to handle max security prisoners why hire some wimpy person who can't handle children?

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[Richards 0]

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If an officer cannot control a single 11-year old boy, regardless of that boy's size, without resorting to the use of a taser, that officer should apply for a greeter position at the nearest Wal-Mart.

Kinda what I was thinking. Officer all balls no brains but heavily armed.

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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[Richards 0]

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In mental health settings, it's recommended that at least three trained individuals are required to safely contain and restrain someone out of control.

[Richards 0]

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An unarmed 11-year old boy at that. I mean, what if he had been armed with a stick? Or worse yet, a banana?

[billvon 2,792]

>Do you know how dangerous an 11 year old with a banana can be?

At least he wasn't coming at the officer with a bunch of loganberries!

[headoverheels 330]

This is why I made a bit of coin shorting (via buying puts) TASR stock a while back. They used to advertise their product as "non-lethal." IIRC, they changed a while back to "less lethal," which is certainly more accurate, considering the number of recipients who died after being Tased. There was also a 9 year old tasered, in AZ if I recall, but I don't remember that kid's offense.

There is a place for Tasers, but it is when the alternative is a gun. If a billy stick is a viable alternative (deemed to be effective without unduly endangering the wielder), then that should be used before tasing.

[Lindsey 0]

Heck. If they didn't have tasers, they might've had to SHOOT the kid. Wasn't that the point of tasers to begin with? People scoffed when those opposing their use worried that tasers would be used inappropriately.....

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[Andy9o8 1]

All I can say is - when I was 11 years old, I was a little fucker, and probably had a good tasering coming to me.

[NCclimber 0]

How predictable... the usual suspects chiming in about this being a case of excessive force.

Does it matter that a 200 pound boy was pounding on an 85 pound girl?
Does it matter that he ignore verbal commands to stop, which included telling him he would be tasered?

Does using a taser really seem excessive concidering the fact the first blast on 50,000 volts seemed to have no effect on the boy?

[Richards 0]

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How predictable... the usual suspects chiming in about this being a case of excessive force.

No one on this site has ever accused me of that before. I normally am OK with any level of force used on a full grown bad guy. Heck I support it fully when some adult thug gets it. I just got a bit caught off gaurd by the age of the taser target.

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Does it matter that a 200 pound boy was pounding on an 85 pound girl?
Does it matter that he ignore verbal commands to stop, which included telling him he would be tasered?

That info was not available in the article that I posted (and at the time i did try to search for other articles). We can only base our opinions on the info we have at the time and adjust views accordingly as more info becomes available.

I am still curious as to why someone working with 6th graders would be authorised to carry such an item. When I was that age we had the strap and I even got slapped in the back of the head by a teacher once but never did anyone feel it neccessary to arm the teachers with tasers .

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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[Skysurfer_Rob 0]

Freakin right taser him. If your able to, record the incident...another wonderful video for youtube.

If the cop felt that tasering the kid was the proper course of action, then so be it. It didn't kill him, and he probably learned a damn good lesson "LISTEN when a cop tells you to stop attacking women."

"Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death, I Shall Fear No Evil...For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing."
SR-71 hangar entrance sign at Kadena AFB, Japan

[Butters 0]

First, the officer should ask the student to act appropriately. Second, the officer should use force (club, tazer, ...) on the student to make them act appropriately. Third, the officer should use deadly force (knife, gun, ...) on the student.

It is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

PS: This is obviously a joke. It disturbs me that people do not respect authority at that age and it disturbs me that authority is unable to handle people at the age without resorting to such levels of force. Why not make the authority take some classes in martial arts or something similar, make the parents take some classes in child raising, and punish the child.

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[masterrig 1]

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Freakin right taser him. If your able to, record the incident...another wonderful video for youtube.

If the cop felt that tasering the kid was the proper course of action, then so be it. It didn't kill him, and he probably learned a damn good lesson "LISTEN when a cop tells you to stop attacking women."

___________________________________

When I see a naked guy, with a hard-on chasing a woman down an alley... yeah, I'm gonna shoot!"
(Dirty Harry)


Chuck

[rehmwa 2]

In my old school, this would have been over before it became a problem. Students or teachers would have stopped the kid en masse and he would have been sitting in the principles office waiting for his parents to come pick him up.

What's sad here is that a boy was beating up on a girl and the other students and teachers didn't stop it themselves and had to wait for the police.

Good thing the school teaches the kids that 'doing the right thing' will get them expelled.

Zero tolerance

Since everybody's hand are tied today, taser the kid and let the cop do her job.

He honestly tried to go after the girl again?

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[SpeedRacer 1]

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Opinions are split on whether this kind of force should be used a school.

Its still less then deadly force, which has been called for at schools before.

Whats left out is the kid's size. My cousin is 11 and is nearly 6' tall and 180lbs. Of course that's an extreme, but still, we don't have all the facts. Obviously on the surface its easy to go "WTF?" I did upon reading this.

However, I do my best not to arm-chair-quarterback this sorts of situations since I wan't there and the media does not give us all the correct facts. Just like in skydiving incidents in the media, when it comes to actions of LEOs the media typically screws up the facts.

I heard on the news that the 11 year old weighed over 200 lbs & was close to 6 feet tall.

so he'd be bigger than me then.

Speed Racer
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[rickjump1 0]

Maybe it all started when she laughed at the size of his "taser". My grandmother said you could always break up a couple of dogs fucking with a bucket of cold water. Wonder if it would work with kids fighting?editied in better taste

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.