NM Police Chief Tasers 14 Yr Old Girl With Epilepsy In The Head
By Logan Murphy Wednesday Jul 08, 2009 2:00pm
(photo courtesy of KOAT)
C&L has chronicled many instances of law enforcement officers misusing tasers in the past (some with deadly consequences) and this latest incident is as bad as most any I've seen yet.
A 14-year-old Tucumcari girl is recovering at an Albuquerque hospital after being shot in the head with a Taser dart by Tucucmari Police Chief Roger Hatcher.
Now, her parents say they want the police department to review its policies for using the Taser.
Her mother, Stacy Akin, said her daughter underwent surgery Friday morning at University of New Mexico hospital in Albuquerque. “One of the darts entered her skull,” said Akin, interviewed by telephone.
After a CAT scan, a hospital resident told her the dart was “in her brain a little bit, but not much,” Akin said.
Hatcher is on administrative leave at the moment, but claims he had no choice because she was running away from him toward traffic. I wholeheartedly disagree with anyone who says that they HAD to use a taser on a 14 year old girl who posed absolutely no threat to them. Of course, Hatcher had no way of knowing that the girl had any kind of medical condition, but that once again proves the inherent dangers of using tasers.
Akin also said her daughter has epilepsy. The girl’s father, Donny Martinez of Amarillo, said his daughter takes medication for the condition. Read on...
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"Hatcher is on administrative leave at the moment, but claims he had no choice because she was running away from him toward traffic"
Excuse me, WHAT?
I was under the impression that tasers were supposed to be for resisting arrest, dangerous criminals, etc. Not 14 year old girls!
...who are running away from you.
but claims he had no choice because she was running away from him toward traffic.
so, would he have shot her with a gun?
are they using these tasers in lieu of guns?
talk about trigger happy...
and i don't understand shoot to kill, in most instances... too many times there is much needed information unavailable from the dead loser...
eight years old.
this one is eleven
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn2IpEC2cBU
At least they don't discriminate based on age. Progress, I guess...
Tasers are treated and marketed as less-than lethal force. And are often treated as non-lethal force. They are, in fact, NEITHER. Use of a taser should be subject to the same rules of engagement as other LETHAL FORCE such as a firearm. Because they are lethal force . And probably even more dangerous than a gun because everyone understands that a gun is lethal force.
Tazers have become the lazy cop's compliance device. Their original intent was a substitute weapon (vs. using a firearm) when the safety of the cop was in jeopardy. Now, they've been reduced to compliance devices and, even worse, tools of street justice.
The same rules for drawing a firearm should be applied to the tazer as well, including the review procedures used when a firearm is involved. Any cop caught using a tazer casually for compliance or as a means of punishing a suspect whom he feels isn't giving him proper respect should be fired and criminally prosecuted for assault.
"Hey, if it doesn't leave a mark, why not do it to anybody... for anything."
That he did not know of her medical condition justifies nothing. I suppose he was protecting her from herself. You go, cowboy. She should end up with a nice college fund.
With a nice college fund. But she probably won't. The police will investigate themselves and conclude that the chief went "by the book" after all. Then the chief's lawyer will go on and on about how difficult it is for police officers to make quick decisions, etc.
He should run for Congress.
not the cops. I am not talking about criminal charges. I am talking about a civil law suit. There must be at least one decent lawyer licensed to practice law in New Mexico. The cop should have shot the girl's idiot mother. I can see a justification for that. There is NO excuse for the tazer. The chief is liable. And probably fat and trigger happy. I cannot wait to see photos of him and Mom.
In Canada we are just about ready to ban the things. They are killing people all the time and the more we learn the more it becomes clear they are not protecting police or people. If you cannot chase or restrain a child or old person who cusses at you, or handle the situation like a man, you don't deserve the badge.
Thats a helluva more rational and coherent response than I would have given if it were my kid.
daughter to the cop shop over a cell phone dispute, either. What do you think the SCOTUS would make of this? If they ruled that the strip search of a girl (around the same age as this one and in front of two women who worked at her school) was unconstitutional when the school's vice principal was looking for drugs, what would they say about this case where the child did absolutely nothing? This ought to be good from a legal perspective. I hope Child Protective Services, or whatever it is called in NM, gets in on this. I feel for the child.
Left the US years ago.
This just reinforces that I made the right decision to escape the lunatic asylum...
The ancestors of the Chief's family used to burn epileptics at the stake (epilepsy being thought of as being possessed). Now they just get tasered.
So things are improving, I guess...
did they ever do before tasers. If a cop can't catch up to a 14 year old girl on foot he/she needs to get to the gym....
Tucucmari Police Chief Roger Hatcher will review Tucucmari Police Chief Roger Hatcher's use of the Taser, find Tucucmari Police Chief Roger Hatcher's use of the Taser was justified, and place an order for a dozen more "neuromuscular incapacitation" devices for the Tucucmari Police Department.
Rinse and repeat.
has only emboldened police to use them in situations where it is not necessary. They tazed a streaker here under very dubious circumstances. Probably just didn't feel like tackling him.
Quite true Blue, or so the profit minded manufacture will tell you but the real truth is that Taser use is a "role of the dice" on someone's life anytime it is used.
would he have shot her?
Police departments should create rules that would only allow taser use any time the use of a gun would be allowed and not at any other time. I think that would help keep these kinds of incidents from happening.
I thought this was supposed to be the general approach by law enforcement - to use tasers only when you would otherwise use a gun. Fat chance. I went to the taser site foolishly expecting that there might be something to that effect there, and it looks like it's just the more the merrier: coming soon to a protest near you, the taser shockwave for crowd control:
http://www.taser.com/products/law/Pages/Shock...
That is absolutely disgusting. We are all fucked. Of course, there will be the bleats from the sheep that if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear. It would appear that soon you'll be tased for looking at an officer the wrong way.
The horrifying thing is that these fascistic steps are done in plain view and the sheep yawn and go back to American Idol.
Congratulations Officer Hatcher! Proving once again how our fine country is spiraling into an out of control police state. Way to go buddy! I wonder how long it took him to decide to taser the fourteen year old? 2 seconds? 1? My bet is no time at all.
cops in this country (and in many others) have been acting like pigs from waaaaaay back.
to make up for all the beatings and ridicule they took in high school........
cops become cops to CONTINUE all the beatings and humiliation they DISHED in high school...
the bullies and the bullied.
One of the problems with the job is that many of the people that want the job are often the worst people for the job.
did a segment where they documented they don't allow smart people in.....If you get an 'A' especially a high 'A' on the entry test they don't let you in, only B and C grades accepted to 'protect and serve'.......... (the rich)
for discrimination because he got dismissed (or not accepted in the force) on the grounds that his IQ was too high.
Happened in my state. About 50 miles from here. And we're supposed to be one of the smarter states.
--he should have just left the bitch run into traffic and get killed.
our police force with the actions of a hysterical 14 year old girl suffering epilepsy.
"the bitch"???? Do you mean this 14 year old child, with epilepsy? Are you Police Chief Hatcher by any chance?
Oh, I'm sorry. You mean the 14 year old child?
Although damseldistress could have been a bit more direct.
If the girl had run into traffic and gotten hit by a car, people would have been raising hell because she was "allowed" to run into traffic.
The officer took steps to stop her. It's not likely that he planned for the end of the tazer to stab the girl in the skull - he just didn't want her to get run over.
Was it a smart move? Probably not the smartest. But I seriously doubt he was trying to hurt her. And incidentally, the girls epilepsy is totally irrelevant to the story. There's no indication that it had any connection to her behavior, and the officer had no idea. Although maybe you think it would be OK to let her run into traffic if she's epileptic?
The mother fought with the daughter over a cell phone and didn't know what to do, so she took her to the police station. Huh? Terrific parenting, there.
Then the kid gets erratic and starts running off into traffic after being told repeatedly to stop. So would it have been better if she ran into traffic and got herself killed or caused an accident where other people were hurt?
The cop said that if he'd been able to grab her, he would have done that instead. Maybe this was an overuse of force, or maybe it was just one of several bad options. Maybe mom should work harder to keep her kid under control and not get the cops involved.
But it doesn't make sense. Told "repeatedly" to stop as she's running into traffic but still within tazing range? And only a head shot? I smell something fishy..
Shot in the hip as well
Tasers make it sooooo easy
Exactly. The range on those things is not exactly huge. If we assume it has a range of 40 feet, then we are to assume that he repeatedly told her to stop running as she ran less than 40 feet -- otherwise he wouldn't have been able to hit her with it.
The cop is obviously lying to save his skin. If he had anything close to honor in his body, he'd quit the force voluntarily. He's just a little bit too trigger happy.
This is the cop's version:
"Hatcher said he got out of his vehicle, called to her and she ran in front of his patrol car across Monroe Street without looking for traffic.
Both were in a dead run when the Taser was fired, Hatcher said."
Okay, so I looked up Tucumcari. Poulation 6000. Monroe St. is a 25 MPH residential two lane street. So he broke into a "dead run" and told the girl to stop, but then shot her because she was headed into "traffic"? So he was able to do all those things and get his taser out and fired before she got across a two lane street?
The running into traffic thing is pure bullshit. The cop shot this girl because he was too lazy to chase a 14 year-old girl.
Fucking police state.
(rt 66) and it's totally tiny.
Tehachapi to Tonapah. I've driven every kind of rig that's ever been made, driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed.
I was just there less than a week ago. I'll have to go back through over the weekend. The main drag of Rt 66 is empty enough. How much traffic could possibly be on a side street? Although in all fairness, the cross street at the park in question was Main St., US 54, but the article didn't say anything about that street.
I looked at the street by satellite. It's a dustbowl.
Tasers shoot 40'??? I thought you had to make contact. It's like some kind of laser gun?
It's darts on wires.
shoot them in the back, say? I do not shoot guns, but logically, this would seem to be the case.
should get their kids tasered in the skull in exchange for the privilege!
"Yes, ma'am I can help you. But I will have to use your daughter's skull for target practice."
I guess I won't be taking my kid to the defensive driving class offered by the local PD.
Just get some body armor for your kid, and sign him up for the track and field team a year before the class. As long as the kid is well protected and can run fast enough all should be fine.
Remember, the dart only went into her brain "a little bit, but not much,”
OK. So if he happened to be holding a hammer or baseball bat, would his answer have been to hit her over the head with a hammer/bat? Would you?
Arizona GOP state senator: Earth is 6,000 years old!
Holy cripes, Arizona State Sen. Sylvia Allen is a complete loon!
Transcript:
I can't say enough how it's time that we get beyond and start focusing on this technology we have and move forward into the future so that our grandchildren can have the same lifestyle we have.
This Earth's been hear 6,000 years -- and I know I'm going on and on and I'll shut up -- it's been here 6,000 years, long before anybody had environmental laws, and somehow it hasn't been done away with.
We need to get the uranium here in Arizona so this state can get the money from it and the revenues from it. It can be done safely and you'll never even know the mine was there when they're done.
So I am for this.
........."I'll shut up"? Not soon enough.....!!!!!
I think you mean "frontal lobotomy", not "tazed".
.
already gave her one of those....and they gave her one of those little crackers too....a 'Jeezit' I think they are called.
LOL! That is funny as hell (forgive me lord)
Cheese & Crackers Got All Muddy!!!
of incompetent people on the police forces of America. I love to be on the side of our law enforcement officers...they to to work every day with their lives on the line, never knowing if they will live to see another day. But when you read something like this, it makes you seethe with anger. Like overgrown bullies, possibly worse, maybe even sado-masochists, some of them just kill people like it was a casual experience. Whoever tasered this child should not only be fired, he should be fined and imprisoned. And the parents should definitely take a stronger stand that "they should review their policies"...that's chickenshit and one EXPECTS parents to stand up for their children much more forcefully than that.
The issue I have with the use of these less-than-lethal weapons is the growing gap between the intent of their design and their actual, real world usage.
The taser was originally developed to offer an alternative to deadly force when there was a legitimate, physical threat to either the Law Enforcement Officer, the general public, or the individual.
What has developed in practice, however, is the use of these weapons in instances of simple, petty non-compliance. This has nothing to do with neutralizing a threat, rather it has much to do with the physical leverage of power in an exchange.
.
That's my problem with it too. At least suspects who accidentally die from a taser shot, probably would've died if the alternative was used which is a police gun.
I've heard of a case in the last year where a five year old girl was tased for throwing a tantrum in kindergarten class in front of the other students.
Tasers for teachers. Hmmm...
Police brutality has increased and their apathy has increased as well. If these offending police depts would get sued the cities would put a strangle hold on their police depts.
We need our cop shops to be cleaned out.
Seems these crazies are packing and whacking all over America.
Does anyone agree?
Something has gone wrong with our police.
Since 9-11 it seems more and more we're in a police state.
I believe it was the May 2008 US World and News (could've been 2007), that said federal money meant for shoring up security, was being spent by local forces infiltrating anti-war groups, often with the undercover cops outnumbering the members.
If you want to admire a group of people, admire fire fighters. There are no cowards within their ranks.
Tasers are treated and marketed as less-than lethal force. And are often treated as non-lethal force. They are, in fact, NEITHER. Use of a taser should be subject to the same rules of engagement as other LETHAL FORCE such as a firearm. Because they are lethal force . And probably even more dangerous than a gun because everyone understands that a gun is lethal force.
Ever walked around with a big stick and felt more powerful?
Imagine cops with tasers. "Listen up sonny..." zap zap zap zap.
I am 150% in agreement with people that Tasers are being misused in this country by a seeming epidemic of thuggish police high on their own "authoritah."
But I am also shocked by how often it is that innocent people decide it's in their best interest to run from police encounters. Sure, I'd rather have a root canal than deal with most boys-in-blue (especially out here in the desert, where they seem to be born with jackboots on); but even I've got enough sense to realize if I just bolt when a cop wants to talk to me, it looks incredibly suspicious, and could end up escalating the encounter. If he didn't think you were a criminal before you ran, he sure as hell will now, and at the very least you'll probably spend the night in jail for it.
There are a million videos on Youtube of cops Tasering people who were no threat and quite civil to prove the problems of police Taser abuse. But this? This is one of those stories I see and can't help but think everyone involved needs to have the stupid slapped out of them.
I don't think it's fair to Monday morning quarterback what the policeman did. Yes he made a mistake. But maybe he saved the kid's life? Was she running in front of a car?
.
Dear Ali,
Why not shoot her in the leg instead?
YES?
.
They're not exactly wildly accurate weapons. They shoot two darts on wires.
One of the darts hit the girl in the back. The other one didn't.
.
From the Nov 26, 2007 broadcast...
http://i4.democracynow.org/2007/11/26/headlines
But then again...
... It's not TORTURE when America does it, YES?
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not to get the police involved in every petty little incident? This mother didn't have to go to the police station. Why do you invite these thugs into your private lives? Why give them permission to kill or seriously harm you?
Tazers have been involved in too many incidents leading to deaths of their victims for the evidence of their 'potential' lethality to be 'circumstantial'. The word is getting out. And perps will begin to arm themselves...as well as citizens. This will inevitably lead to bloodshed.
Thank the War on Drugs for the kind of mindset that fosters the contemplation of the use of such devices by putative 'public servants' against the very people who pay for the salaries of those 'public servants'. By 'dehumanizing' drug users (they're 'disease carriers', 'vampires', etc.) an attitude was fostered in law enforcement that 'anything goes' when it comes to 'protecting' the 'kids' from drugs. Which has led to instances vastly worse than this poor girl suffered, as she's still alive, while these people are dead.
When police can be 'excused' for murdering innocent people because of their own fear of being killed, thanks to the violence produced by drug prohibition (Mexico is a perfect example of that in full operation), then there's something seriously, seriously rotten in the State of Ahmurikah. And tazers are but a symptom of that rot.
Check this one out. A 72 yr old woman is tasered:
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2009/6/great...
Nearly all people who support the use of tasers fall into three categories:
1) The sellers, who want to make money and lie that tasers are "safe" despite all proof to the contrary.
2) Those who want to use tasers against other people, sometimes to inflict pain without legal consequences.
3) The uninformed who mistakenly believe the lies and are blind to the real effects of tasers.
If anyone here actually takes the time to watch the dash-cam video of this incident...
http://www.cnjonline.com/video/index.php?bcpi...
...it's pretty clear the Chief isn't being straight about the "traffic". Not at all.
There *was* no traffic.
Chief, it's time to retire. Like (former) Officer Robert Powell in Texas, thank God we have the internet, video, and other sources of information that continually make it more and more difficult for guys like yourself to tell tall tales while hiding behind a badge.
Three cheers for dash-cam video: It is both the boon and bane of law enforcement; it is the truth-seeing, tell-all evidence that no cop nor criminal can escape.
And, three cheers to the honest, *real* cops out there. We love you, and are sad that you have to share the badge with guys like (former) Tucumcari Police Chief Roger Hatcher and (former) Dallas Police Officer Robert Powell.
Dash-cam video, like this one, only show you a portion of what's going on. At the very least, you can't see anything that's behind the video camera. There's no oncoming traffic, but you can't see if there's something coming from the rear of the vehicle. And with only a 20 second clip, you don't even get much perspective. Including that you don't see where they run to or anything that's outside of the camera periphery.
Fat cops using tasers
Too fat to chase a 14 year old down
Fat America SuperSize me
This creep Hatcher should be tased in his nut sack. See how he likes it.
Had to Taser a kid... What a man.
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