Autistic Teen Tasered in Calif.

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.myfoxcleveland.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4410683&version=14&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Posted on Thu, Sep. 20, 2007

TUSTIN, Calif. - Sheriff's officials defended their use of a Taser stun gun to subdue an autistic teenager who left a social services center where he was being treated.

"It was necessary," sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said in defense of the use of a Taser stun gun to subdue 15-year-old Taylor Karras.

He said the teen was running in and out of traffic and is lucky to be alive.

"If that were your son, would you want him Tased or hit by a car?" Amormino asked.

The teenager bolted from a social services center in Westminster on Monday and had walked 15 miles when sheriff's deputies received a call of someone running in and out of traffic on busy Newport Avenue. Sheriff's Lt. Larry Jones said a deputy fired the Taser after a second car had to swerve.

[Beelzebud]

Disgusting...

[book_worm]

1. It's hard to know without actually being there and seeing what was happening

maybe for his own sake he needed to be? or maybe not? I don't know all the facts.

[BlooInBloo]

3. Ok, Nero.

[Beelzebud]

4. Oh please... 15 year old autistic kid can't be physically restrained?

Only a damn wimp needs to taze a 15 year old kid with mental disabilities.

Grab the kid, drag him off the street. No electrocution required.

[haele]

16. Don't know, have you seen some of the 15 year old kids ?

I've seem quite a few boys that were already hitting 6 ft, 190+ lbs at 14. Our kidlet is 15 and already 5'7", about 130 lbs and she's strong enough to cause some real damage when she loses control; she's punched a hole in her bedroom door and split the frame when she was 13 during one tantrum, and she can easily break someone's ribs or limbs if she struck out in anger or fear.

We aren't talking about 5 or 10 year olds that are easy to catch and scoop up, screaming and flailing, we're talking about an adrenaline effected kid that is probably almost the size of an adult - and we don't know what sort of physical condition he's in.

Have you ever tried to handle even a small adult who is in a hysterical fight or flight state or under the influence? I have several times back in the day; they tend to be both quicker and stronger than "normal", and you can't direct their attention and energy to a place where they can be placed in a safer environment. Surrounding and talking calmly is out of the question; they can't listen and will reaact to any attempt to restraint as a mortal threat towards them.
You basically have to get them down however you can and hopefully have enough people backing you up do do this without seriously hurting both yourself and them while doing so. That, or you let them continue on with their rampage until they eventually stop on their own, hopefully without killing themselves or screwing up the lives of other people who become aware of them much to late.

That being said...

If (big if) the security people were correct and the kid took off in panic mode(after fighting or not) and had enough of a head start towards a busy highway before he could be tackled and brought under control, what would you as a "responsible party" do? I'd have to say that in this, and only this scenario, I would, at a distance, use a taser to take the kid down before he or she ran into traffic and caused an accident. Then bring him back to a safer location where he can be treated properly.

If it were just a situation where the kid was still in a somewhat dangerous position but could be seized and controlled in a body lock (which IME, is actually just as painful and possibly just as dangerous with the risk of long term injuries such as serious bruising or broken bones)or some other hold, then tasering is out of line.

If the kid could have been reasoned with or left to finish throwing his fit in a safe, controlled environment - like indoors or in a high-fenced secure yard, then tasering is totally out of line.

Each case is different. The only commonality to any of these situations is for the people who are supposed to be the adults in control use common sense and do what they can reduce the amount of damage to all parties involved.

That was the "smart policing" meme I learned way back when when I was stuck with alternate duty days supporting Shore Patrol/Base Security. Most security people I ran into believed "easy" or strong arm security actually caused more time and trouble than just using common sense. Of course, back then, the people in charge of the security wherever I had duty always made sure they had enough of a duty section that they always had enough alert, well-equiped, resonably trained partnered people to handle any situation that might come up.
I think that too many locations are cutting their security too thin, which has a nasty result of stressing out their forces and causing them to view everything as a threat to be dealt with rather than a potential problem to be solved before it gets out of hand.

Haele

[Warpy]

5. No kidding.

you'd think they'd have been able to tackle the kid and get him restrained without a Taser, but it's hard to second guess anyone without having been there.

If it really was a choice between the kid being tasered and being somebody's hood ornament, I'd take the taser every time.

That goes for me, too, if I ever go bonkers and decide to play chicken with cars.

[BlooInBloo]

2. What's not to love about cops? Diabetics, pregnant women, scads of black folks...

... and now autistic kids. All fall to the taze.

[Warpy]

6. Meth addicts, PCP freakouts, belligerent drunks

thugs, crazies, wife beaters, armed robbers.

Yeah, they persecute us all.

:sarcasm:

[BlooInBloo]

9. Ah - the you-ignore-the-good-news theory of cop support. Genius!

[Pithlet]

7. As a parent of a child on the autism spectrum

This scares the crap out of me. It has already occurred to me that something like this could happen. I think tazers should be flat out banned across the board. They are ridiculously overused.

[snappyturtle]

8. What would the police have done with this teenager if they didn't

have a taser? I think they would have stopped the traffic....time consuming I know...and calmly taken this boy into custody. Tasers, like Ritalin, are a quick fix to handle situations that require patience.

[scorpiogirl]

10. These were the only choices?

"If that were your son, would you want him Tased or hit by a car?" Amormino asked.

[PA Democrat]

11. Persons w/ autism & developmental disabilities 7 times more likely to come in contact w/ police

There are so many tragic stories about people with autism dying at the hands of the police.

http://autismrealitynb.wordpress.com/2007/05/30/autism-induced-excited-delirium-syndrome-or-police-brutality/

Autism advocacy groups have long-advocated training police officers in dealing with people with autism. There is still a lot of ground to be covered in this area. Here are some links for law enforcement on dealing with people with autism:

http://www.autismriskmanagement.com/pdf/FBI%20LEB%20article.pdf

http://www.autismriskmanagement.com/lawenforcement.html

[mmonk]

12. Another autistic kid?

I hate that.

[DemGa]

13. It too bad cops can't stop traffic

this torture could have been averted. But hey, the kid "bolted." :sarcasm:

[Echo In Light]

14. Authoritarians...

Enjoy implementing "tough love" measures.

[valerief]

15. I think cowboys should be hired to teach cops how to lasso runaway autistic teens.

That would beat being tasered and hit by a car!