A Cincinnati, Ohio, 11-year-old was apparently shocked with a Taser stun gun by a police officer “working an off-duty detail” at a grocery store Monday, according to WCPO 9.
The officer had been called to investigate reports of several young girls stealing items from the Kennard Avenue Kroger when he spotted the 11-year-old walking away with a backpack full of items, according to the release and Lt. Steve Saunders.
She refused to stop after the officer warned her, and then he stunned her with the Taser. The girl, a fifth grader at Winton Hills Academy, is 4-foot-11 and 90 pounds, according to a police report.
If this fifth-grade girl was 6’ 5” and hit the officer with a bat, I might be able to understand using a Taser for fear of being hurt. But he used a Taser stun gun on a child that is tiny, and he did it by shooting her in the back! WTF????
The girl was reportedly released into her parents’ care after going to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She has been charged with theft and obstruction. The police officer in question has been put on “restricted duty,” which I imagine means he gets to hang out at the precinct and hope this blows over. Police Chief Eliot K. Isaac has said there will be “a very thorough review,” and that his police department is “extremely concerned.” Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman chairs the Law and Public Safety Committee and he too says he wants answers from both security footage and the cop’s body camera.
I don’t know what answers there could possibly be. This is a very bad police officer. Choosing to do bodily harm to anyone for stealing food is true madness. You aren’t “having a bad day” when you deploy a Taser on a small child. You should not simply be fired from your job as a law enforcement officer, you should be put into counseling—and possibly jail.
