Tased for Truancy, Tased for Running

By @KYYellowDog

Has anyone seen a report of police using tasers effectively to arrest an actual criminal who was posing an actual threat that required the use of near-lethal electrocution? If so, please send it to me. I'm wondering if such a thing ever happens.

Bon the Geek at Zandar Versus the Stupid calls this "shocking brutality." The problem is that it's not even surprising any more.

MOUNT STERLING, Ohio — A village police officer shocked a 9-year-old boy with a Taser this week, prompting a shutdown of the entire force.

Long-embattled Police Chief Mike McCoy has been suspended, and officers who were being used on a part-time basis are no longer working, Council President Lowell Anderson said.

McCoy didn’t tell village officials after the Tuesday incident, and that prompted the suspension, Anderson said.

Village Administrator Joe Johnson, in violation of state open-records laws, refused to release the report on what the village is calling “an incident involving use of force.” Mayor Charlie Neff said in a statement only that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has been asked to investigate.

A nine-year-old boy wouldn't go to school. Somehow, this escalated to the point that he was shocked with a Taser. Nine years old. No freaking way can any facts presented possibly excuse using that amount of force on a little boy. Stating he is large for his size changes nothing. I'm not even sure why that was brought up, it doesn't change the fact that he is only nine years old.

I'm glad they were shut down, mismanaged is a polite term used in the article to mean these guys are incompetent.

No, Bon; they're not incompetent. They're militarized and testosterone-poisoned by a bullying culture that demands and rewards violence as the response to every stimulus.

In which running away from danger is now a crime warranting electrocution.

Digby:

"It's scary because it wasn't just the incident but their report of what happened, which didn't align with the facts," Halsted said after the verdict. "I was just a guy walking home. It could've been anybody."

Yes it could. And according to most of society, if it isn't a hilarious joke on you it's your own fault for not immediately dropping to the ground when someone yells "get him." You certainly can't fault the police for tasering and beating the shit out of a possible graffiti artist. They have to keep the streets safe for honest citizens like you. Or Mr Halsted.

Want to reduce wasteful spending in your town? Force the police department to destroy its tasers. You'll save millions on lawsuits.