Officer uses taser on 13 year old girl in hallway of Florida middle school

when the girl refused to go to the office after she had been suspended. She resisted and headed the other way.

Officer Shocks, Arrests Teen At School



It seems more common to taser and more accepted.

There is something about the mentality of people who decide to become cops. Not all of them, but a lot of them.

I don't care how much a 13 year old weighs or how strong she is. If she's not physically threatening the officer or someone else, then the officer's behavior was completely inappropriate.

The police once arrested two second graders, and handcuffed them in my classroom...for breaking into the school the night before. But as least they never tasered them.

:mad:

If a "school resource officer" can't handle a 13 year old, then he or she should call for backup.

Armed people get shot.


A Taser is meant to be used instead of physical restraint...because it results in fewer injuries. It's the safest form of restraint.

I have already had one heart attack. If I were to be tazered it would probably be my death.
My ten year old grandson died from a bad heart. If he had ever been tazered while he was still alive it would have certainly killed him. Children's bodies are still growing and forming and the same tazers used on adults are used on kids? Come on now!!
What have we come to in America when it is considered alright to shoot hundred of volts of electricity through children's bodies? What kind of monsters do that to little kids?
I am against tazers. Far too many have already died..they are NOT safe.

No form of restraint is 100% safe, but Tasers are as close as it gets.

...that's why law enforcement uses them.

fat 13 year old girl as all that dangerous.

...and they're less likely to cause injury than other forms of restraint.

That's another form of restraint.

Funny, I don't remember hearing about anyone dying from being handcuffed.

Ever try to put handcuffs on somebody who doesn't want to cooperate?

It's a wrestling match...and it's a lot harder to cuff somebody than to just getting them on the ground.

If 13 year old kids frighten the officer that much, the job is too much and they are a liability to everyone.

Only because Night Sticks have been around longer. Wait a couple of years when Taser # of deaths catch-up.

there was anyone else in the school who could have helped? I don't care how big this girl is, using a taser on a thirteen year old is obscene. From the article it sounds as if the student was resisting but hardly battering an officer.

more than 350 deaths in the past couple of years, and counting.

She didn't represent a threat to him.

He should lose his job and be prosecuted for assault.

For some reason, every single comments section in the land has become a virtual Klan rally...

Defiant says...
April 9, 2009 3:49:39 am

RE: Link

"Unique Nicole Young" 5'4" 185. This pretty much says it all. What kind of parent names their child Unique? Does she have a sister named Monique or a brother named Campho Phenique? This behavior has become typical of a certain segment of our society, because the only way they know how to react to any problem is through yelling, screaming, acting out, and violence. I would venture to guess that this is pretty much the picture of how problems are solved at the home of this young miscreant.

Mmmmkay. And just which segment of our society might Dementedfiant be referring to? Not that that would ever, ever have anything whatsoever to do with who gets Tasered... :sarcasm:

Oh wait that was the mother in Bush. LOL!

These are awful.

what makes you think they would care about tasering a 13 year old girl?

Yes, it's ALWAYS Florida you hear about this.

she's a fat 13 yr old girl.

I guess that makes all the difference in the world.

Putting it in a report seems odd.

13 or not, the officer was restraining the physical equivalent of an adult.

They are going overboard with it. Just let the girl walk away, and then call her parents.

We loved them and taught them without having to taser them.

I had some real problems kids in my classes at my last school, but I never ever felt the need to taser them.

This is apparently a new part of our culture.

It is just dead wrong.

in the report.

...which, statistically, would have had a higher risk of injury to the girl.

escorted her off campus?

The story does not give the girl's side at all. WHY did she want to head to the other part of campus? Maybe she had stuff in her locker that she wanted to take with her? Maybe she had a kitten in her gym locker which would die before she came back?

Who the fuck knows. All that matters is the authoritarians get there way without question. Rules are rules and are to be obeyed because they are the rules.

5'4", 185 lbs - she couldn't run a block without getting winded. I've see female cops take down drunks twice their size without resorting to tasers - why would she need to taser this child, except for the fact that the child DEFIED her?

She had already been suspended. She refused to go the office to await pick-up. She was crying and unruly. To top it off, she attempted to walk off in another direction.

The officer attempted to talk to her, then to gently guide her. When the girl resisted and became combative, she was tased.

A kitten in her locker? More likely that she was just behaving like a spoiled brat. The family was given the opportunity to relate the girl's side of the story. They refused.


Yes, sometimes one just has to obey the rules...especially in cases like this.

...go figure

:eyes:

It's a normal part of being human, and especially a normal part of adolescence. Authoritarians don't believe in defiance. But an obedience based approach quells natural curiosity, self esteem and empathy for others. It is the source of our troubles with the right wing of this country. Proud to be ignorant, not interested in learning, full of self loathing, conflicted, and more interested in judging and punishing others than in understanding them. About one third of our population passes this fear based culture onto their children. The rest of us have to deal with their culture of irrational hatred.

Besides which- choosing to walk away from an argument you can't handle is often a good option. When adults do this, we usually consider it wise. It is better to walk away than to lose your temper and say/do things you will regret later. And total submission is very humiliating. Maybe the girl needs to preserve a shred of dignity for herself. That dignity can come in handy when the chips are down. She is more likely to grant others their dignity if she is granted hers.

This reminds me of the incident where the cop was caught on camera beating the crap out of a teenaged girl who threw a harmless little tantrum when she kicked her shoes out the door of her holding cell. Is so much force called for when a child acts...childishly?

And there are deep rooted double standards at work in our culture. Girls and boys are granted different levels of defiance, as are blacks and whites, gays and straights, and rich and poor. Some people need to be put in their place swiftly, and if need be, violently. I imagine angry fat girls are close to the top of that list. Not allowed the dignity of walking away. Must be subdued.

Yes, children are occasionally defiant. However, they will become adults and they need to learn how to handle their emotions.

This wasn't a case of a girl who walked away from an argument. She had already broken some rule, resulting in suspension, and compounded her problems by being emotional and defiant to both school administrators and the safety officer. The request of the "authority figures" was neither arbitrary nor unreasonable...she was told to wait in the office so she could be picked up.

Allowing the girl to act this way and roam the halls of a school not only reinforces her inappropriate behavior, it creates a potential risk to her and other students (and school property).

and they would never use guns in this situation.

Or would they?

Guns are only to be used where deadly force is required. You wouldn't use a taser in those cases.

David

dangerous or aggressive subjects in situations that otherwise would require a use of deadly force.

They weren't supposed to be used in trivial situations like this.

For example:

http://www.keesler.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123094432

4/15/2008 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS. -- Members of the 81st Security Forces Squadron are training on the use of Tasers, another alternative to deadly force as they patrol and protect the base and its people.

Many military and civilian law-enforcement agencies use the Taser as a complimentary part of their non-lethal weapons program.

Filling the gap
Tasers fill a void when negotiation techniques fail and other non-lethal weapons offer no safety against the violent threats of a perpetrator, said Maj. Joseph Musacchia, 81st SFS commander.

Look at the milimeter-wave technology (i.e., see-through-your-clothes scans): First the TSA says they'd only use this as an alternative to an "enhanced pat-down" (i.e., Johnny TSA-Agent gets to feel up your breast and groin region).

But of course, once the tech is out there, the TSA suddenly reversed its earlier position and decided that they're going to roll out these nudie scans for all fliers at selected airports. That means Johnny TSA-Agent gets a free peek at every flier, not just those who opt out of having their crotch groped by a stranger.

Do you feel safer yet?

If the charges are true.

"battery on a law enforcement officer" and "resisting an officer"

You are breaking the law if you refuse a lawful order of a cop. And you are certainly breaking the law if you batter a cop.

You can't push a cop, slap a cop or spit on a cop. If you do, you will be arrested. If you resist, you will be "brought under control" and cuffed.

This will be done by a submission hold, or being hit with a stick, pepper spray, or a taser.

The cop is not required to put herself in harms way in the performance of her duties.

Once the cop was battered, and resisted, all the previous actions, such as the suspension, or why the officer was called are unimportant.

I'm aware that the girl broke laws once the cop got involved and indeed she is at fault for that. But again, what law did the girl break that gave the cop reason to forcefully escort her to the principal's office in the first place? If I'm not doing anything illegal then the cops have no right to be forcefully escorting me anywhere. If they do forcefully escort me and I didn't break the law, I can sue them.

(assuming your not 13)

In many schools the resource officer reports to the principal, and it appears that in this case the principal had asked the SRO (school resource officer) to escort the girl to the office. In this case the SRO was acting as a member of the school staff.

This is clearly within the principals authority, the principal could have just as easily has asked the gym teacher to escort the student to the office. Had the girl refused to follow the gym teachers instruction, she would not be in violation of the law. Unfortunately for this girl her escort was a cop, and resisting a cop is a crime.

Schools also have an obligation to maintain order and safety. They can't just let a 13 year old wander the halls or wander out the door after they get suspended.

Should she have been tasered? I don't know, but if I was the girl, I'd choose the taser over pepper spray or a night stick.

Once the girl battered the officer, the officer was obligated to regain control of the situation.

What specific method do you think would have been more appropriate?

I am really starting to question whether the fences around schools and hypervigilence about safety are basically designed to ensure the imposition of a policed, caged environment on kids. Call it Step 1 to Implementing a Fascist Police State. Step 2 would involve tracking the adults too..

Keeping 6 or 8 year olds from walking out may be advisable for safety reasons, but our 13 year olds are seriously handicapped if they can't be allowed/entrusted with leaving a building on their own. When I was a kid, I rode my bike to school from age 8 onward. At age 13 they would let her leave the building and walk home at dismissal time, right? This isn't about safety. This is about control.

And our entire school system is set up to prevent kids from learning to exercise control until they graduate.

Absurd.

Edited after closer reading of events....

No effort not to escalate the situation, no efforts at all.

They are out of control with taser use.

Agree wit ya. There are too many people with itchy taser fingers just looking for some pretense to try it out.

The parent was being loud and verbally abusive toward me. The principal already knew the story and knew I was right. She kept letting the parent yell. I told the parent I needed a word with the principal privately. Then I asked the principal if she was aware the parent was so drunk she nearly staggered to the conference. I asked her to stop the verbal abuse or stop the conference.

She asked the parent if she had been drinking, and the parent nearly attacked her over the desk.

Needless to say the conference ended and the asst principal helped escort the parent out.

No one was tasered in the process..

The above situation was not just a one time thing. Once two mothers started a fight in my classroom. I got them outside the door and closed the door. I buzzed the office on the intercom to break up the fight between the parents.

Spit on a cop, and you put your life in your hands. No trial, no jury, just a chance of death by taser.

Even if you're a child.

Glad we have our values straight! :patriot:

Spit on a cop and you will be arrested. Regardless of age.

Resist that arrest and you will be physically brought under control and then arrested, regardless of age.

All forms of physical control carry some inherent risk.

Asthmatic reaction to pepper spray, broken limbs or back from a submission hold, broken bones and internal bleeding from a nightstick, and a chance of death from tasering.

The age of the individual is immaterial to the method used. The level of force used is determined by the force of the resistance. It's simple physics. It requires a greater level force to subdue a 185lb individual than a 90lb individual, regardless of age.

it's not the spitting on a cop that gets you injured, it the resisting arrest.

How much risk of injury should a cop be subjected to before they take out their taser?

Our moral compass seems to be askew these days regarding proportionate use of force.

The policewoman did not have to taser her.

But the above poster seems to make the case that "spit on a cop, and you deserve to get tased and possibly die." I think that's a morally reprehensible approach to the concept of proportionate use of force.

Tasers are there to stop raging PCP addicts and the like. No 13-year-old girl should be tased...I don't care if she's built like Andre the Giant.

Sad.

:hi:

Spitting on the school resource officer is bad behavior.
Refusing to leave school grounds after suspension is bad behavior.

Using a taser (or pepper spray or a nightstick for that matter) to correct the above is also bad behavior.

There is ample evidence to show that tasers aren't benign. The cop and the school system are lucky that this student didn't have any hidden cardiac issues.

and then to be made to pull the trigger himself.

I don't care if she just robbed the cafeteria lady of her milk money.

A 13 year old is a C*H*I*L*D.

Officer Lori seems to be a product of the new world order police state.

I can assure you she'll think twice before tasering any school aged kid, regardless of size and resistance. Jesus Christ.

She used to keep records of our milestones here and here is her blog

I just realized I am 4 posts away from 60,000 posts. That is way too much posting even in almost 7 years.

This story doesn't even come close to being the worst lately, but this type of story is way too common.

What specific tool or method would you suggest the office use to regain control of a 185 lb person who was resisting?

immemorial. Because when I was younger and saw the parents being called in this type of situation, well, that would NEVER work today.

You got me there!
If the cop had beaten her ass would your question be the same?

Besides, my anger is mostly at the worst offenses, like I intimated in my reply

Are you saying the cop should have used a nightstick?

Since time immemorial if you push, hit, or grab a cop you will be brought under physical control and arrested. Historically that meant a nightstick, until pepper spray came along, now there's a taser.

When you were younger did you see any 13 year-olds pushing or grabbing cops?

Any cop who cannot handle a 13 year old girl without a taser, should not be a cop.

I'm done defending the obvious.

with a mixture of credulity and sarcasm and irony.

You are advocating a police state in our schools.

"Edwards grabbed Young's wrist to escort her, but Young pulled away and began using her free hand to push away.

Edwards tried to handcuff the teen, who was yelling and trying to grab Edwards.

Young continued to fight back, leading Edwards to use the Taser on the girl. Even after she was shocked, Young continued her resistance. She was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Bartow."


Don't grab her wrist to escort her and she wouldn't have fought back. DON'T TOUCH her, just accompany her, try to talk her down. Take TIME. That is one of the problems with so many of these tazing things, seems that taking time would be a better response.

Of course, I assume that police, like the rest of us, are pushed to do as much as fast as we can, but ESPECIALLY police need to take more time to do what they need to do.

From the article:


"I told her … there were rules and she needed to comply with them," Edwards wrote.

Young ignored Edwards and tried to walk away, reports said. Despite numerous warnings to follow Edwards' orders, Young began yelling at the officer, reports said.

Edwards tried putting her hand on Young's shoulder and asking her "very nicely" to go to the office and not make matters worse.

But Young yelled that she wasn't going and became increasingly combative, reports said. Edwards took out her Taser.

"I did not want to Tase the student, nor did I really want to arrest her, so I de-escalated at that point," Edwards wrote. "I put the Taser away and tried again to gain her compliance."

But Young continued her resistance, reports said.

Edwards grabbed Young's wrist to escort her, but Young pulled away and began using her free hand to push away.

Edwards tried to handcuff the teen, who was yelling and trying to grab Edwards.

Young continued to fight back, leading Edwards to use the Taser on the girl. Even after she was shocked, Young continued her resistance. She was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Bartow."


Sounds like the officer made plenty of attempts to control the situation without using the Taser.

Could be a lesson for the police and others who deal with teens. Don't touch them.

And no, I'm not excusing her behavior, or the police's, but trying to figure out how to avoid such situations in the future. Don't physically touch an upset teen sounds like a good rule to implement. Unless, of course, said teen is an imminent danger to themselves or others. Otherwise, don't touch them.

Talking is great but if the girl refuses to take any direction, the officer has to touch at some point.

Letting a suspended student wander the halls isn't really a viable solution.

You are an authoritarian, and you seem to have no sense of proper use of authority according to time place and circumstances.

If the officer had simply walked away, or maintained observation from a distance, what harm would have come? Rules are not the end all of life.

And btw, from your previous post, maybe a glass of milk and a cookie would have been EXACTLY the right thing, maybe not. Your sarcastic attitude toward dealing with this child is mean spirited and abusive.

1) We don't know what the girl was suspended for. If it was vandalism or some violent offense (like fighting), letting her wander around and "observing from a distance" could put other students or property at risk. Even if she wasn't, they could still be at risk.

2) The girl was upset and emotional. Both the school and the officer bear liability if a suspended harms herself because they let her roam the halls.

3) Letting her wander ties up resources. That officer has a job. What if another situation requiring attention arose while the officer was following her around?

I can't believe anybody would advocate allowing a suspended student to aimlessly wander inside the school...especially in light of the liability issues. The officer absolutely had to physically escort the girl after repeated unsuccessful attempts to have her comply with verbal orders.

If the only reason to gain control is because of a "rule" then I suggest NO method, and NO tool. If the person is not a threat to themselves or others, is not trying to leave the scene of a crime or is not impeding an investigation of a crime, why MUST that person be "controlled"???

She was upset. She was yelling. She refused to comply with school officials or a safety officer.

You think allowing her to wander the halls of a school would have been a good idea?

Amazing.

electrocute her immediately. You were right, what was I thinking?

Wow, just wow.

I'ts the resolution to the problem that I find ridiculous.

Little tiny problem, big stupid answer.

and I call your "Wow, just wow" and raise you a "Holy Crap, if you're not joking, you really scare the fuck outta me."

the law enforcement officer had to do omething to protect herself. As long as the taser was properly user without overdue force. Something had to be done it seems.

The girl did not start to harm anyone, she was just refusing to go to the office.

I taught for over 30 years in various grades. My sixth graders were much bigger than I am. They were rough, too, some of them. But I never touched them. I never had to do so even if it were allowed.

This is a ridiculous look at our culture.

What did you do when two or more students got into a fight?

Did you just wait it out while they beat each other?

And they were fighting outside the school room. I stepped in between them and put my arms around my student.

If you think lasering kids is okay, that is most certainly your right.

I do not think it is what our police should be doing.

But the cop was placed in a difficult situation. Unlike a teacher principal, or average citizen, they are trained, and obligated to confront criminal behavior, and gain control of the situation.

If the story is correct:

The cop "told her … there were rules and she needed to comply with them"
The cop gave her "numerous warnings"
The girl then "began yelling at the officer"
The girl "yelled that she wasn't going and became increasingly combative"
The cop took out the taser then put it away.
The girl "continued her resistance"
The cop grabbed the girls wrist to escort her, but the girl pulled away and began using her free hand to push away.
The cop tried to handcuff the teen, who was yelling and trying to grab the cop.

It's not like the cop walked up and tased the girl. The cop followed procedure and only escalated the situation as necessary. It wasn't until the girl started pushing and grabbing the cop that she got tasered.

What if the girl had gained control of the cop's taser or firearm? Surly that was going through the cop's mind.

Maybe schools shouldn't have cops, but then they would be called in for trespassing if the girl wandered off to a part of the school she didn't belong in and refused to leave.

Cops are the one segment of our society who are given power and responsibility to use physical force to stop or detain individuals who will not comply with our laws. That is there fundamental purpose.

This is a case of overkill.

Are we really better off with armed policemen walking the halls of our schools?

It started after 9/11, and it has never stopped.

In this case they could have just let her walk away and contacted her parents...or if they really had to show power call in reinforcements.

A local high school with about 2,500 students was calling the police 5-7 time a week to deal with criminal behavior. This would pull 1 of 4 squads from patrol for at least a couple of hours resulting in insufficient police protection for the rest of the community. The solution was to station a cop at the school, (who ideally is good with kids) and not disrupt the community patrol.

I believe the school is responsible for the child once she safely makes it to school and can not just let her walk away in the middle of the day. It's also worth noting that the girl was not exiting the campus, but "was heading toward a part of the campus where she wasn't supposed to go"

For an offense that wasn't.

So you think it is ok that every school needs an on campus policeman.

How did so many of us manage just fine for so many years without police help?

Resisting and officer, and battery of a officer.

In Florida battery of a law enforcement officer who is engaged in the lawful performance of his or her duties is a felony of the third degree.

We're talking possible prison time. Unlikely, but that's how serious of a crime it is to push or grab a cop.







*************************************


784.07 Assault or battery of law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical care providers, public transit employees or agents, or other specified officers; reclassification of offenses; minimum sentences.--

(1) As used in this section, the term:

(a) "Law enforcement officer" includes a law enforcement officer, a correctional officer, a correctional probation officer, a part-time law enforcement officer, a part-time correctional officer, an auxiliary law enforcement officer, and an auxiliary correctional officer, as those terms are respectively defined in s. 943.10, and any county probation officer; employee or agent of the Department of Corrections who supervises or provides services to inmates; officer of the Parole Commission; and law enforcement personnel of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, or the Department of Law Enforcement.

(b) "Firefighter" means any person employed by any public employer of this state whose duty it is to extinguish fires; to protect life or property; or to enforce municipal, county, and state fire prevention codes, as well as any law pertaining to the prevention and control of fires.

(c) "Emergency medical care provider" means an ambulance driver, emergency medical technician, paramedic, registered nurse, physician as defined in s. 401.23, medical director as defined in s. 401.23, or any person authorized by an emergency medical service licensed under chapter 401 who is engaged in the performance of his or her duties. The term "emergency medical care provider" also includes physicians, employees, agents, or volunteers of hospitals as defined in chapter 395, who are employed, under contract, or otherwise authorized by a hospital to perform duties directly associated with the care and treatment rendered by the hospital's emergency department or the security thereof.

(d) "Public transit employees or agents" means bus operators, train operators, revenue collectors, security personnel, equipment maintenance personnel, or field supervisors, who are employees or agents of a transit agency as described in s. 812.015(1)(l).

1(2) Whenever any person is charged with knowingly committing an assault or battery upon a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, an emergency medical care provider, a traffic accident investigation officer as described in s. 316.640, a nonsworn law enforcement agency employee who is certified as an agency inspector, blood alcohol analyst, or a breath test operator while such employee is in uniform and engaged in processing, testing, evaluating, analyzing, or transporting a person who is detained or under arrest for DUI, a traffic infraction enforcement officer as described in s. 316.640, a parking enforcement specialist as defined in s. 316.640, a person licensed as a security officer as defined in s. 493.6101 and wearing a uniform that bears at least one patch or emblem that is visible at all times that clearly identifies the employing agency and that clearly identifies the person as a licensed security officer, or a security officer employed by the board of trustees of a community college, while the officer, firefighter, emergency medical care provider, intake officer, traffic accident investigation officer, traffic infraction enforcement officer, inspector, analyst, operator, parking enforcement specialist, public transit employee or agent, or security officer is engaged in the lawful performance of his or her duties, the offense for which the person is charged shall be reclassified as follows:

(a) In the case of assault, from a misdemeanor of the second degree to a misdemeanor of the first degree.

(b) In the case of battery, from a misdemeanor of the first degree to a felony of the third degree.

(c) In the case of aggravated assault, from a felony of the third degree to a felony of the second degree. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person convicted of aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 3 years.

(d) In the case of aggravated battery, from a felony of the second degree to a felony of the first degree. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person convicted of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years.

(3) Any person who is convicted of a battery under paragraph (2)(b) and, during the commission of the offense, such person possessed:

(a) A "firearm" or "destructive device" as those terms are defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 3 years.

(b) A semiautomatic firearm and its high-capacity detachable box magazine, as defined in s. 775.087(3), or a machine gun as defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 8 years.

Notwithstanding s. 948.01, adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence shall not be suspended, deferred, or withheld, and the defendant is not eligible for statutory gain-time under s. 944.275 or any form of discretionary early release, other than pardon or executive clemency, or conditional medical release under s. 947.149, prior to serving the minimum sentence.

In a classroom hallway.

You think it is ok. I don't. It was not needed. She should have let the girl go and called either for assistance if serious enough or contact the parents.

Police can't let someone go it doesn't work that way. When you fail to comply with a police order, you get arrested. And as far as assistance, she didn't need any. She's the cop, she IS the assistance. She was issued a taser to subdue individuals who don't comply, just like here nightstick and pepper spray.

We can disagree on the method she used, but "letting the girl go" was not an option.

The whole purpose of having a cop on campus is to access powers that are only afforded to law enforcement. If the cop is going to ignore their police powers (which ethically they can't) they are of no use on campus.

I always did. Why do you want police powers on campus?

You are scaring me.

but the cop was there.

The issue was the tasering.

The girl was tasered because she was resisting arrest.

The girl was arrested because she pushed / grabbed a cop , which if true is a felony.

A cop cannot ignore a felony. They MUST arrest anyone they see committing a felony.


*****

I also don't understand your vision of how this would have been resolved differently.

is it something like:

The cop asked the girl to go to the office with her, and the girl says no. The cop then walks away and says I tried, but she wouldn't listen, and then suggests that the girls parents are called?

Note the use of the passive voice: A total abnegation of any responsibility (let alone humanity) on the part of the cop who tased a 13-year-old girl.

Again, very telling.

"I told her … there were rules and she needed to comply with them," Edwards wrote.

Young ignored Edwards and tried to walk away, reports said. Despite numerous warnings to follow Edwards' orders, Young began yelling at the officer, reports said.

Edwards tried putting her hand on Young's shoulder and asking her "very nicely" to go to the office and not make matters worse.

But Young yelled that she wasn't going and became increasingly combative, reports said. Edwards took out her Taser.

"I did not want to Tase the student, nor did I really want to arrest her, so I de-escalated at that point," Edwards wrote. "I put the Taser away and tried again to gain her compliance."

But Young continued her resistance, reports said.

Edwards grabbed Young's wrist to escort her, but Young pulled away and began using her free hand to push away.

Edwards tried to handcuff the teen, who was yelling and trying to grab Edwards.

Young continued to fight back, leading Edwards to use the Taser on the girl. Even after she was shocked, Young continued her resistance. She was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Bartow.


The officer only escalated the situation when lower-level responses didn't work.

It's similar to directing a vehicle with bad breaks and a stuck accelerator toward a 25 mile an hour zone and then citing them for speeding.

who is not complying with the rules of a school considered to be a criminal? As far as I'm concerned the girl did nothing that justified the cop touching her in the first place. Kids who don't listen and break the rules are pains in the ass, but it doesn't make them criminals. A cop may be justified in grabbing a criminal (someone who has or is suspected of committing a crime) and forcing him to comply with what he or she says, but a child who has done nothing criminal?

She didn't break the law, she broke the school rules, apparently. Tell me, since when is it okay to physically forced a schoolchild, who has not committed a crime, to do anything? Next the kid with ADD, who isn't concentrating on his work to his teachers satisfaction, can be dragged out of the classroom if a cop decides to, and then tasered if he resists.

Tasers are for criminals, not schoolchildren.

The girl was a criminal for resisting a cop and battering a cop (in this case a felony)

The taser wasn't used for resisting, it was only discharged AFTER the girl tried to push and grab the cop.

You said "Tasers are for criminals, not schoolchildren" can't an individual be both?

This girl may end up with jail time (at a juvenile facility)for her actions.

If this is the case she IS a criminal.


Tasers are designed to be used on people who resist the police, just like pepper spray, and batons.

Resisting the police routinely ends in physical harm.


**************

I understand and even lean towards the idea of not having cops at school,

but I truly don't understand what this cop did wrong.

She was there to enforce school rules, and that what she did.

The cop held her shoulder, the girl pushed her away. The cop grabbed her hand, the girl pushed her away.

Perhaps NOT touching her might have helped. Perhaps merely accompanying her to a quiet place and taking time to talk might have helped.

When the officer put a hand on her shoulder, when the officer grabbed her wrist "to accompany her". I'd say not touching her and simply being with her, talking with her, would have been a much better way to handle it.

Don't touch upset kids this age.

no one should be using a taser... period!

Show me where she was.

And by the way, how big is "that big"

5'4" and 185 lbs? How can anything 5'4" be considered big? That girl wasn't big, she was round!

If they knew she could be a handful they should have foreseen that coming. She was suspended after all. They should always go out in two's when dealing with adolescent teens.

Every school here has them. I taught 30 plus years and never needed a cop.

Something is wrong with this picture.

And that constitutes battery.

To an authoritarian, it is a cut and dry case to taser the little fucker, even if it kills the tyke.

Funny how in mental institutions people are restrained all of the time without weaponry at all. It is a matter of training, and the cops are NOT trained to deal with children or trained in non-violent restraint techniques. They are trained to escalate force in increasingly violent and deadly ways over the slightest provocation. Listen to the authoritarian arguments in this thread...the fact that this weapon kills means nothing to them; it's all about whether or not the rules are adhered to.

The cops have no fucking place being a "school resource officer".

I went to some pretty tough schools, and the cops were hardly ever needed, and when they were, it was a drug dog situation. Fights were broken up by teachers, students, and coaches, and unruly kids were allowed a bit of space until they ran out of steam. They're frigging kids and prone to making bad decisions, for god's sakes...there is absolutely no need to bring deadly force into that kind of situation, ever....and a taser is deadly force; it kills.

We are a police state, now. Our schools are a great mirror for the ugly-assed society we have become. It depresses me how little freedoms we allow each other these days. You are no longer allowed to be stupid and immature when you are a kid.

Assaulting an officer is fair grounds to be tasered. Do what you are supposed to do and you won't have to worry about it. Pretty simple really.

Must be a bunch of wusses in control these days.

When I was a kid the nuns would fuck your world up if you got out of line. And then your parents would fuck you up worse when you got home. Things are much different today. No discipline.

unless little ones came up and wanted a hug.

I am sorry but we used tried and true methods of dealing, no hitting or touching allowed.

I think the new bunch are wusses who gave in to a police state.

it's load of something to imply that "the old days" were so great. Kids were bullied by students and teachers alike. Any kid who was out of favor with a teacher would find him or herself at the Principal's office often, almost always culminating in the ass paddling. Back in the day it was perfectly okay for teachers to refer to students as "retarded" if they couldn't keep up in class, or be otherwise harassed, verbally and physically. There is no more "attarity" meted out by school officials, but in the meantime between then and now, kids started to bring chains and guns to school. That's why there is now external intervention.

No one in schools beats the crap out of students.

I grew up in those "good old days." Guess what? There was a lot of child abuse - in school and at home - and indeed, a lot of individuals "fucked up" for life. I knew a second grader who was beaten - hard - with a paddle EVERY DAY by a teacher who took a dislike to him - for such awful offenses as looking out the window while the teacher was talking.

The image in your post hardly matches your words. Who was it said, "suffer the little children....for of such is the kingdom of heaven?"

I interpret this not as 'assault on a police officer' but resisting a police officer who was trying to stop a 13 year old from walking out of the school. The nuns in the old days would have let the kid walk out and immediately called the parents. You aren't recognizing that the school environment today is intended to prevent kids from developing any SELF-discipline, because there are external controls being placed on them at every opportunity. Kids are being acclimated not to have RESPECT for authority, but to have an attitude of helplessness and fear of authority. This is not accidental.

Kids "should" comply with school rules but noncompliance does not warrant being "handled" by a cop. Cops handle criminals. Not school children.

Look at what you're saying here. I mean really take a step back and look how you're framing your argument.

Good luck. :hi:

with tasers and clubs.

These days I guess they need them.

I was able to manage some a foot taller than me and parts of gangs...by talking and understanding enough to get by.

Force is not always the answer.

This is just stupid.

:banghead:

Heck, if it happened near her, she'd probably have given the tasered girl a swift kick. That is, if the other teachers didn't get their chance in first.

American teachers are waiting for the day when they can all wield tasers.

right?

'American teachers are waiting for the day when they can all wield tasers.'

But they'll take whatever they can do to cause students pain and humiliation. If they're limited to nonlethal weapons, they'll grouse, but they'll accept tasers.

There is the solution.

:evilgrin:

What ever happened to personal accountability. This girl is old enough to know right from wrong and has obviously not been well taught. She is the size of a large adult and if she assaulted the officer, then the SRO was entirely within her right to arrest and tase the girl. It is time that we stop making excuses for allowing people to behave badly and then blame it on someone else. I wonder how long it will take for the parents of the girl to file and win a frivolous multi-million dollar lawsuit. My son is 14 and over 6 feet tall. If he assaulted an officer, I would be happy if ALL he got was tased.

Oh, never mind.

Old enough to know right from wrong....that mantra went out the window when Bush and Congress attacked a country that never harmed us.

Most of us here have caught on to the "personal accountability" talking point also. It covers the whole map of doing away with common sense.

Suddenly since Bush was president we have police in the schools tasering kids when we never did before.

Some people are pretending that a bad ass cop tazered a sweet little choirgirl for no reason. Our schools are filled with gang bangers, drug dealers, rapists, felons and pyschopaths. Kids in elementary schools bring guns and knives to school. I live near an elementary and high school and I have broken up gang fights where 6 young teens were beating the shit out of one teen (they were all legally children but that didn't keep them from stomping, punching and hitting with a board). Some of these kids are dangerous and they go to public schools (until they drop out or go to jail). I know several resource officers and some have had to use pepper spray on kids who are fighting and actively resisting. Some kids are big and strong and downright mean. I wish DU would get over it's kneejerk response to police officers using legal means to restrain out of control people. It really pisses me off. Go to school and take a look at some of these kids, especially in the rougher neighborhoods. I bet most of you wouldn't even walk through these neighborhoods when school gets out. Violence in and around schools is increasing as is gang membership. It's easy to sit back and criticize when you have no idea what happened. Google teacher assualted on camera and see if you still feel sorry for these poor little children.

We did a damn good job.

The sign of living in a police state? Total acceptance of tasering children.

There were not officers on campus until the Bush years.

yes, we just had kids bringing guns to school and killing other students and teachers during the Clinton era....columbine anyone

to make sure we all fall in line.

Bottom line, my friend.....it was during the Bush years, mostly after 9/11 that schools became staffed with police and resource officers.

Before then we may have had a resource officer just for one district.

That is all

wow, now there's an intelligent, insightful and educated response. Funny how some people resort to profanity when they are shown an opposing side of an argument that has validity and are afraid to admit it

have a good grasp of it.

There is no validity to commending a police officer for tasering a child. If you think there is one you are an asshole and not a hell of a lot more needs to be said.

:applause:

Welcome to DU! :hi:

:dunce:

Last time I checked there were plenty of kids at 13 getting pregnant and having children and they did not have consent. I just think it's time we hold people responsible for their own actions. Time to stop finding someone else to blame just because it is easier.

One of those "responsibility" people.

:rofl:

Sure glad none of us here feel that way.

:rofl:

It isn't only right wingers who appreciate "responsibility", and I haven't seen this person use RW talking points, at least not yet. There is the reality of an increasing number of large, strong, out of control, violent, students.

Either you do or you don't.

Why don't we arm teachers with tasers and give them permission to use them?

That will take care of all those children who ever dare to misbehave.

The right wing memes for years have been personal responsibility to the nth degree. No exceptions. No money for the old folks on Social Security.

No bailouts even if you are victim of the big players.

I don't know enough about this particular case to say whether the tasering was warranted or not. Tasering is often used inappropriately, but in some cases, tasering is appropriate. Sometimes restraint can be dangerous as well.

The "responsibility" meme, when applied to mortgage holders, is obviously a RW talking point.
But there are still legitimate uses of the word, and people who don't regularly visit political boards may not be as keenly attuned to the political loadedness of certain words.

It isn't always right wing or left wing, sometimes it is just right or wrong. I am tired of people demonizing those who do a difficult job that many others would never dream of doing. It is irresponsible to judge someone when you have never stood in their shoes. I think it is very ease to say that it was a racist thing, or the cop is evil or corrupt or some such other nonsense, but the truth is that anyone who is willing to perform a job where their life is on the line everyday means something. They are not all perfect, no one is, but the vast majority of them are good people doing a difficult job and I truly do not believe that the officer did anything more than she felt she had to.

because a kid would not go to the office after she had already been suspended.

You are a little of line in your judging of us here.

There is law and order and behavior that is proper, but our country has crossed the line now in many ways.

Why don't we just arm the teachers with tasers and save money for cops? Just kidding, a teacher would get fired for that.

They would put parents in jail for tasering their kids.

None, zero, zilch and anyone applauding such appalling behavior is an asshole with no respect for the concept of civil rights or decent treatment. There is no excuse for this pathetic excuse of a human being in a police uniform. None whatsoever.

Advocating the use of tasers on students is vomit inducing to say the very, very least.

Regards

I don't recall anything in my statement in which I approved of anything. I was merely pointing out the facts. I spent many years working in a busy emergency room. I have seen the numbers of young girls coming in pregnant and the fathers were equally young boys. Your statement makes absolutely no sense.

It's not my job to correct your ignorance of what constitutes statutory rape, nor is it at all convincing to use your haphazard, personal experiences as the basis for legal policy.

Children are children. People like you who try to pretend they're adults in smaller bodies are fundamentally ignorant about human development on many levels.

I wish you luck in your studies.

You resemble that remark.

When there was a discussion of the B girl's punishment there were folks who took umbrage at those of us who thought she should spend time under the watchful eye of the criminal justice system.

Now we have the same people commending the use of a taser on a 13 year old child who didn't commit a crime in the first place.

You don't really want me to say what I think this says about folks around here.

Regards

I taught one year in Orange County Public Schools secondary, poorest school district (Apopka) in a Medical Skills course. One of those elective courses that you got every kind of kid in. It was meant to "weed out kids who would want to get into Health Occupations. They threw me into the thick of classroom management. I had 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders in my overloaded 3 classes, and I didn't even have my own classroom. I was not out of my BS program in education, yet and it taught me a bunch of things, including classroom management. But it also taught me a few things about human nature. Lots of teachers are lazy and lots of administrators drop out after a year. A circular door of wasted so called leadership. Meanwhile, we become truancy officers. Now we have cops in hallways because as it is now described where I live, "schools have gotten worse". Tell me, how is that (rhetorical question).

I believe you cannot expect to control kids, but motivate them. I reached some and the best behavior modification was doing something they had a stake in. The kids that were "bad" well... these were fricken huge kids, and the not so big. Didn't make any difference who was rude, you didn't get anywhere by punitive action.

We didn't have the SRO program (officers I see in schools now) and that was 1990-91.

What the hell is wrong with this picture (another rhetorical question).

MMM (ex-Floridan) who never got that mad in class.

All those years we taught without tasers.

We had to work things out and communicate.

My eldest sister remembers when schools meted out corporal punishment quite often, and often at the whim of teachers who may have had a personal dislike of certain students. The girls got their hands whipped with a strap, the boys pulled down their pants and got their asses paddled. My dad still tells stories of kids who were punished by getting their ears boxed, or hands rapped with rulers... administered by the teachers in class. There wasn't even any arbitration by the principal. The teachers beat at will. So I'm not seeing this whole big change after 9-11. Kids have always been abused in school.

I don't think you are right on that, not in public schools.

For decades we have been told to keep our hands off the kids.

My sister went to school in the sixties and seventies when it was a normal occurrence for children to be sent to the principal's office for a hand or ass beating. I went to school when there was no corporal punishment, and no police presence. At that time, things were starting to get bad with gangs and bullying was out of control. My one year at a particularly affected school was hell. The point is, you're implying that this authoritarian tude is something new, implemented after 9-11, and that just isn't so. Historically, kids have been beaten and bullied at school by the administrators and teachers themselves. Nothing new there. It was considered discipline.

The story you posted is from last April. It was already discussed here at the time. The kid, who is the size of a very large adult, went to court and was made to apologize for her behavior. Hopefully she's now going to a school where she gets to profit from special ed. Since this sort of thing isn't in the news every day, it seems likely it's an isolated incident. Probably in the quotidian sense, the resource officers generally do their part to help kids as much as the teachers do.

You do no service to any of us to say that teachers are allowed to beat at will.

I didn't say teachers are allowed to beat at will today. I said historically, and in our not so distant past, it was not unusual for school administrators to physically punish kids. Back in the days when my elders went to school, it was perfectly acceptable for teachers to rap a student's knuckles with a ruler for not sitting up straight or indulging a momentary daydream. My dad also tells stories of a particular teacher, (who liked to refer to his yardstick as "the external motivator") who would pinch and twist a child's ear, applying painful pressure as required to encourage proper verb conjugation. My point still stands that physical punishment is not a new concept, and the occasional dreadful story about tasering children (which I'm not advocating at ALL) probably doesn't hold a candle to all the incidents of kids who were paddled, belt whipped, pinched, smacked etc... in the past.

Edited to add: Last March a 5'4" 11-year-old, weighing around 170 pounds, was tasered in Orange County after she got into it with the resource officer and punched her in the nose. I thought that was this story. It's not totally inconceivable that it's the same girl, especially if her birthday is early April.

:wow:

the potential for killing a person is always a risk with these damn things dependent on a persons heart. The fact people think that risk is justified tells me those who advocate for its use are sick.

:rofl:

when I clicked is she 'fat' or 'black' or both. Doubt they would tase a skinny white chick.

Recently another DUer questioned why a teenage girl who was forced to strip in order to prove that she did not have any Tylenol on her person did not simply walk out. I pointed out that kids are now being indoctrinated that it is unthinkable for them to simply walk out. Most schools are turning into fenced cages where kids are kept under control all day.

If social planners or government lackeys hadn't made the schools into the size of large factories (intentionally making them impersonal and inhuman), the principal or teachers probably would have had a better chance of avoiding this situation, through various means. But now everyone has been institutionalized..