Police officer tasered 9-year-old twice
Quietman ~PWCM~JLA
2012/03/12 23:12:23
Mayor Charlie Neff issued the suspensions after he was told that a village police officer had shocked a 9-year-old boy with a Taser earlier in the week during an arrest. Neff said McCoy should have immediately reported the incident to Neff and council members. He did not.
Officer Scott O’Neil, who used the Taser twice Tuesday morning on 9-year-old Jared Perry, did not respond to calls on Friday for comment. Village officials, however, released a copy of O’Neil’s report this morning.
The sheriff’s office had requested an officer check the boy’s S. Market Street address on because there was an outstanding unruly juvenile complaint filed against him because he was truant from school.
According to O’Neil’s written account: He arrived at the home just before 8:30 a.m. to take the boy into custody. Jared refused to cooperate and wouldn’t put on his shoes to go with the officer. He begged his mother, Michelle Perry, to let him go to school rather than with the officer, but Perry told her son it was too late.
O’Neil wrote that after repeated warnings, he pulled Jared from the couch but the boy “dropped to the floor and became dead weight ... flailing around.” The officer wrote that Jared —who is listed as between 5 foot 5 and 5 foot 8 inches tall and between 200 and 250 pounds — laid on his hands to prevent being handcuffed.
The report indicates that O’Neil warned that he would use the Taser, and demonstrated the electrical current into the air “as a show of force” to gain the boy’s cooperation. He wrote that Jared’s mother was telling her son to do as O’Neil said or else he would be shocked.
O’Neil wrote that after he shocked Jared the first time, he still refused to cooperate and so he was shocked a second time.
Officer Scott O’Neil, who used the Taser twice Tuesday morning on 9-year-old Jared Perry, did not respond to calls on Friday for comment. Village officials, however, released a copy of O’Neil’s report this morning.
The sheriff’s office had requested an officer check the boy’s S. Market Street address on because there was an outstanding unruly juvenile complaint filed against him because he was truant from school.
According to O’Neil’s written account: He arrived at the home just before 8:30 a.m. to take the boy into custody. Jared refused to cooperate and wouldn’t put on his shoes to go with the officer. He begged his mother, Michelle Perry, to let him go to school rather than with the officer, but Perry told her son it was too late.
O’Neil wrote that after repeated warnings, he pulled Jared from the couch but the boy “dropped to the floor and became dead weight ... flailing around.” The officer wrote that Jared —who is listed as between 5 foot 5 and 5 foot 8 inches tall and between 200 and 250 pounds — laid on his hands to prevent being handcuffed.
The report indicates that O’Neil warned that he would use the Taser, and demonstrated the electrical current into the air “as a show of force” to gain the boy’s cooperation. He wrote that Jared’s mother was telling her son to do as O’Neil said or else he would be shocked.
O’Neil wrote that after he shocked Jared the first time, he still refused to cooperate and so he was shocked a second time.
Read More: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012...
Top Opinion
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Brother John 2012/03/12 23:41:32
+3I wasn't there but it seems that the officer was in no danger. If that is the case this was an unjustified use of a taser. I doubt seriously that the department's protocol allows for it's use to coerce an 8th grader to put on his shoes. I also doubt it is a legal use of force against a non compliant but non combative minor.
First off, the kids momma shouldn't have called law enforcement in the first place if the kid was unarmed and just throwing a tantrum. I was called out once where a 12 year old boy was brandishing a knife at his mother, and that's a different story. After relieving the lad of the knife I called my Sargent for assistance, and he came out with a Child Services Officer who was trained in dealing with juveniles.
The Officer in question should have informed momma that the child is 9 years old (no matter how big he is physically), and he is her responsibility as a parent, and he would be more than happy to contact Child Services if she can't control her own son.
We (Law Enforcement) should not be called to respond just because a parent can't take care of their own child when they throw a fit.
Given that this was the predominant argument, police officers should not be allowed to use a taser for any other reason than they are choosing not to draw their weapons. In other words, if the situation does not merit lethal force, use of tasers should not be an option.
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PS: POST Certification means that you must graduate from a Law Enforcement Academy and serve OJT with a Training Officer for a minimum of six months. Our Department will not allow an Officer to “solo” until we are fully POST certified.
PPS: I believe I expressed my opinion about the behavior of the Officer, and that I will not defend his actions.
I joined the Sheriff's Department at the age of 62 (4 years ago) and did go through the Academy and the six months riding with a training Officer. Law Enforcement was always one of the professions I wanted to get in, but my career as an Engineer was doing too well for me to quit, so I waited until I retired.
I did serve as an Evidence Analyst for the Philadelphia Office of NCIS (while serving as a Navy Reserve Officer), but unlike what you see on the TV, NCIS is not a Law Enforcement Officers best job.
http://www.sodahead.com/user/...
Be safe,
Mike
Next thing you know, people will be calling the Police because the McDonalds screwed up their order.... Oh yeh.. That's already been done!
(As a side note, when I was growing up, my mother taught her children not to call the police unless there was a vital reason, since the outcome can be unpredictable.)