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From Tucumcari, New Mexico, comes word that a 14-year-old girl ended up in the hospital after being tasered by the local police chief -- over a disagreement the teen had with her mother. Apparently, Stacy Akin drover herself and her daughter, Kailee Martinez, to the police station seeking help settling a dispute over a cell phone. After the girl ran off, Chief Roger Hatcher tracked her down and resolved the matter -- with a paralyzing jolt of electricity. Martinez reportedly needed staples to close the head wound left by the Taser and surgery to remove a stick that lodged in her face.
As I've written before, a Taser is a potentially useful tool, but it's not a hammer in a world full of nails. While a helpful alternative to a firearm in situations that would otherwise require the use of deadly force, Tasers are dangerous; occasionally, they can kill. In fact, Amnesty International reports that "more than 351 individuals in the United States have died after being shocked by police Tasers" since June 2001.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation found that some Tasers deliver a bigger jolt than intended (PDF), with all the danger that implies. The Heart Rhythm Society says Tasers can interfere with pacemakers. Other preexisting conditions may also elevate risks -- such as the epilepsy Martinez is said to have. (Many epileptics are especially worried about Tasers because people having seizures have been Tasered by police misreading the situation, and because the effects of Tasers are similar to their medical condition).
Which is to say, jolting a teenage girl with tens of thousands of volts of electricity is not the appropriate way to resolve a tiff between the girl and her mom.
Chief Hatcher says he dropped the girl because she was running away from him and into traffic, but it's hard to see how rendering her unresponsive on the pavement could possibly improve her safety. Tucumcari officials may also have doubts -- Hatcher has been put on administrative leave.
Incidentally, Tucumcari City Manager Bobbye Rose appears to have her hands full. Even as she's fielding inquiries about Hatcher's actions and facing a likely lawsuit over the incident, she also has to worry about the mayor. Mayor Antonio Apodaca has been charged with cruelty to animals for dragging a dog alongside his car.
Maybe he should have borrowed Hatcher's Taser.
email J.D.: civilliberties (at) tuccille.com
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Comments
Tasers should only be used by intelligent humans. The mother is obviously an idiot, too for going to the police in the first place. Here's how you settle an unruly teen throwing a fit about a cell phone. With a hammer......to the phone.
If anyone here actually takes the time to watch the dash-cam video of this incident...
cnjonline.com/video/index.php?bcpid=1155316076&bclid=1155254655&bctid=28897971001
...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.
What is wrong with these people???? Those jolts can kill a few days or weeks after the attack. I have said before you never know the health condition of the person you are attacking. I lost a child and nearly lost my life because of an attack by cops - not a taser - a gun, while they falsely imprisoned my husband and robbed us. Yeah! These are the people protecting you, America! Wake up!!!
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