Taser Used on Naked, 11 Year Old Autistic Girl Wandering Lost

[The Straight Story]

ASHLAND, Ore. – State police confirm the young girl found wandering naked and confused along I-5 early Sunday morning was apprehended with a Taser.

Officials say that woman is a juvenile. She was found just after 4:00 a.m. between mileposts 18 and 19, apparently unresponsive and unaware of her surroundings, and it was Adam Bednar who found her.

“I stopped the car in the middle of the freeway, I backed up. She kind of looked in my window, she kind of laughed and just kept on walking,” said Bednar.

Bednar says he drove alongside her while he called police. He says the trooper who arrived called for her to stop, and when she didn’t respond threatened twice to taze her. After giving no response, two little red dots appeared on her back, then metal barbs.

“She seized up and she fell face first on the ground,” said Bednar.

State police officials say it was necessary to prevent her from wandering further into the road and putting herself in danger.

http://m.kdrv.com/kdrv/pm_111089/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=5XrWVS0B

[femmocrat]

1. Good grief.

They couldn't just throw a blanket around her?

[JackN415]

2. Damn it!!! police must be better trained to recognize autistic and MR kids who can't respond!

Last edited Tue Jun 25, 2013, 09:57 PM - Edit history (1)

Damn stupid cops.

[HiPointDem]

7. you don't tase naked 11 year olds whether austistic or not.

[duffyduff]

49. Easy to say that behind a keyboard

I believe I may actually know who this girl is, and believe me, she was somebody you had to watch all the time because she could run away.

Many autistics are like this.

BTW, we are talking about a FREEWAY, not some little side street.

[chillfactor]

57. so tazing an 11-year-old is just fine with you? really?

sorry I work with autistic children..there is NO EXCUSE for what that idiotic cop did..NO EXCUSE at all!

[Rex]

3. Dam cops can be brutally dumb sometimes.

This is why you NEVER want to deal with LEO, only if it is absolutely essential. Otherwise they are just as likely to hurt you, as help you.

[ZombieHorde]

4. Calling the police usually makes situations worse.

Police should only be called when situations can't get much worse.

[duffyduff]

50. Yeah, just let the little girl wander around on the freeway and be roadkill

n/t

[chillfactor]

58. give it up already..

you have no concept at all about working with autistic children..you are only trying to stir the pot and just making yourself look foolish

[warrprayer]

5. assholes n/t

[HiPointDem]

6. a naked 11-year old & they copuldn't just grab her? quite obviously not hiding a weapon,

so why a taser?

their rationale is just bullshit.

[RedCappedBandit]

8. Not Necessary

I work with full grown males with autism who are all severely behavioral. Somehow, we get by without fucking tasering them whenever they do something we don't necessarly approve of.

[niyad]

9. isn't this F****** lovely? THE GIRL will not be charged with a crime

Officials also say she will not be charged with any crimes because she wasn’t aware of her surroundings.

[kestrel91316]

11. Well isn't that nice of them?

[niyad]

14. made me sick when I read this. it never occured to them that this was a CHILD? I remember

when people my age were always told "if you are ever in trouble, run to a policeman." I would tell anyone now, "if you are ever in trouble, DO NOT go near the police."

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. I would like to know the name of that heroic trooper.

So I can personally drop him a line. There is no excuse for that shit. None. Zero. Zilch.

If that trooper can't take a naked 11-year-girl into custody without subjecting her to brutality, he needs to find a different job.

[theHandpuppet]

35. Amen!

Couldn't agree more.

[kentuck]

12. How many times do we have to hear this story before....

...they take those toys away from those piggy bastards??

[liberal_at_heart]

13. Why do they have to taser or shoot someone simply because they don't repsond. Shouldn't they save

that kind of reaction for when they are being attacked? What the hell is wrong with our police?

[bobduca]

15. How about risk your life and limb you fucking worthless pig?

I'm so entirely sick of worthless pigs with tasers...

[Honeycombe8]

16. Sounds like P.D. protocol. To prevent cops from wrestling people

and possibly injuring them or the cops. Not the cops fault. These sorts of things are laid down in manuals by the various P.D.s, and the cops are required to follow them. Even down to what they have to say beforehand.

Unless it's a little mom and pop town, I'd guess, where they don't have fancy protocol manuals (a la Andy Griffith).

[Bonobo]

17. Holy fuck.

Do you think that's reasonable protocol?

"Not these cops fault" = holy fuck.

[Honeycombe8]

18. You understand that the cops don't write the manuals? They are required to follow it.

Just like you working for a company with a company policy manual. You didn't write it. You may not like the rules. But you are required to follow them.

That's my understanding of the way things work. Police Departments don't leave things entirely up to the cops. Although they do have latitude, I guess. It was the cop who determined she needed to stop heading toward where she was heading. So he ordered her to stop. From there on, it's protocol by the manual.

If he'd physically tried to stop her, she could easily have gotten injured, and so could he. And she probably would've resisted a stranger grabbing her to stop her.

If there's a problem with the procedure, it's with the P.D., not the individual cop. Remember that he didn't know she was autistic, and it was paramount to stop her from walking into the roadway.

[Bonobo]

21. Complete BS.

There is no police force in the US that takes away the power of individual police to decide how to conduct themselves to that extent and make case by case decisions.

[Honeycombe8]

44. And there is no company in teh US that takes away an employee's power of individual

decision making as to how to conduct themselves in the workplace.

Sound silly? That's because it is.

Yes, Virginia...P.D's dictate how their employees behave in the workplace, esp since they are toting guns and dealing with the general public, who are often breaking the law or drunk or unruly. They don't hand their employees guns and say, Okay, guys, hit the road. Do whatever you think is right! No rules!

I get that there are some people who just hate cops, no matter what they do. If he'd grabbed her arm and pulled her back, you would've said "abuse!" Esp since an autistic who doesn't "obey" would probably have been scared and fought back someone pulling on her.

You have someone, naked, who is acting bizarre, and about to walk in a roadway, or turn the other way and walk into the woods, who won't stop when told to by a police officer. Question: What would YOU do to stop her immediately before she gets hurt or causes someone in a passing car to swerve & get hurt in an accident? She won't listen to what you SAY. So...tell me. What does YOUR manual tell you to do, when faced with this situation, when a person behaving bizarrely won't respond to commands?

[Bonobo]

48. Dude, have you no common sense?

A naked 11 year old girl needs to have metal prongs fired into her neck and then zapped with electricity?

What the hell?

My manual says that you grab her. My manual says that you DON'T electrify her.

[Th1onein]

25. I call bullshit.

[TheMadMonk]

31. TASERS ARE NOT COMPLIANCE DEVICES.

(You may assume the appropriate pejorative appellations have been thunk.)

Right there in the training manual it says the Taser is NOT to be used as a compliance device under any circumstances.

It is a take down device, to be used ONLY when only other likely outcome is death or critical injury for someone(s), perpetrator, victim and/or bystander.

Language may be more verbose and full of caveats, but that's pretty much what it boils down to. Only problem is, those operating instructions are generally ignored, unless the the number of times the target is "jolted" becomes truly excessive. Lowest # I recall resulting in newsworthy discipline is in the mid twenties.

[Honeycombe8]

42. You've read that p.d.'s manual? Hmmm. Forgive me for doubting that.

No doubt you've read some manual, but they are different for every city.

I get it, I get it. Cops bad.

[Gravitycollapse]

43. You wouldn't happen to be a police officer, would you?

[TheMadMonk]

45. No. I've read several reports on the MANUFACTURER'S HANDBOOK.

Which disclaimer is how they've avoided being sued out of existence over Taser related deaths.

And actually no, Cops good.

POLICE PRACTICES in the USA all too often VERY VERY BAD!

[Gravitycollapse]

46. I live right down the road from Taser International.

I'm sure I could pay them a visit and ask. Not sure they'll give me an answer since they profit off of electrocuted children.

[TheMadMonk]

55. It would depend on how you phrase the question probably.

Get in their face and be told get knotted.

Ask is it a compliance device, and I believe it would be highly unlikely to be told anything but: "NO! It's a device to be used in situations when the alternative is lethal force."

Wave a big enough cheque and the sales droid may wink & nudge, but their lawyers aren't dumb.


And no, they profit off the sale of an electroshock neural disruption device intended to be used as an alternative to lethal force. What the purchaser chooses to do with it is no skin off their nose.

I will not say I'm fond of Taser International. However I will at least give them a modicum of credit for the design intent of their main product.

I'd be willing to make a small wager that Taser International's BOD emits a collective groan every time there's a story of some yahoo copper using one of their "toys" on a child.

[The Straight Story]

47. As I have mentioned before, back in the day I was a LEO (deputy)

We didn't have tasers and most my work was at the main jail. No weapons allowed at all on the floor or at intake.

I have handled people much larger than me hyped up on drugs, etc. We had protocols in place to safely handle issues and had a lot of training on hand to hand and how to handle inmates (and I would often be patting down 10 people on my floor with just me and one other deputy).

An 11 year old girl? Would be a cold day in hell before I would even think of using a taser. Those people are in your sphere of responsibility the moment you are involved.

Cops can be bad. Real assholes and I knew more than a few and can tell more than a few stories about corruption and abuse, so no love for them in many ways.

You find me a cop who lives by a manual and I will show you one who had a short career.

[tkmorris]

54. WHO CARES IF IT'S IN ANY MANUAL??!!??

If I had a manual at my job that said I was required to use a bloody TAZER on an 11 year old naked disoriented girl I would not give not one SOLITARY FUCK about what that manual said or any potential repercussions for not following it.

Would use use a tazer in such a circumstance if there was a manual which said to do so? Do you have the courage to simply and directly answer that question?

[The Straight Story]

56. Guessing Snowden said the same thing

Sorry...had to

[Zorra]

22. There are simple non-harmful intervention moves, such as the Escort Basketweave,

that a cop could use on an 11 yr old girl to rapidly move her from the street into the back of the patrol car.

These moves are simple and effective, and do not require any wrestling. I wonder if cops are taught any of these maneuvers.

But I could definitely see using the taser as a last resort if there was a clear and present danger of the girl immediately running into the freeway and being killed. You do whatever you can if there is a split second between life or death.

But if that was not the case, an Escort Basketweave could have rapped her up and had her safe in the back of the patrol car in a matter of seconds.

[pnwmom]

24. She's 11. If their policy calls for tasering a non-aggressive kid, they should change their policy.

They should have tried to stop her the same way they would have before tasers were invented.

[Rex]

28. Protocol is to tazer a naked, unarmed 12 year old girl in distress?

That is the biggest load of horseshit that I've heard this week.

[PotatoChip]

34. And does this afore-mentioned 'protocol' apply to children?

I find it hard to believe that these procedural manuals would apply in the same way to the apprehension of children, as it would for adults.

If that were the case, where would one draw the line? With 11 year olds, 5 year olds, infants perhaps?

[Logical]

52. LOL, I read this post and then said 'I wonder if some idiot will....

Try to justify it."

Unbelievable!

[brentspeak]

19. "Officials also say she will not be charged with any crimes..."

"Officials also say she will not be charged with any crimes because she wasn’t aware of her surroundings."

My first thought was why the cop who tasered a naked young disoriented girl wasn't charged with a crime.

[Ilsa]

39. Charging an 11 year autistic girl was

something they'd consider? Or even just charging an eleven year old? She was naked, wandering. Where's the crime, other than wondering about her supervision, although autistic kids have been known to slip out at night like this under their exhausted parents' noses.

[UtahLib]

20. A cop with no common sense is a very dangerous person. n/t

[uppityperson]

23. Good thing she wasn't carrying skittles, she might've been shot

For serious, Shame on them. "she didn't respond" to being threatened twice so they had no recourse but to taze her? Shame.

[Th1onein]

26. I literally feel like throwing up, after reading this article.

[avaistheone1]

30. Ahh only if it was skittles and Arizona ice tea.

[SamKnause]

27. 11 years young

I just turned 60, 1 hour and 40 minutes ago.

Everytime I read a story like this it truly sickens me.

I thought this country would be different in the 21st century.

We definitely are exceptional.

We are exceptionally passive and demure to continue to allow these atrocities to happen.

Our police forces are so poorly trained, and so richly endowed with a militaristic approach.

2.3 million of our fellow citizens in jails or prisons.

70% of those prisoners are in there for NON VIOLENT crimes.

Our wars have bankrupted this country, both monetarily and morally.

The War on Drugs
The Iraq War
The Afghanistan War
The Drone Attacks

There is a concerted effort to hire veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Is this wise ?

We are considered terrorists by our own government and must be constantly monitored.

Wall Street continues its rape of the wealth of this country.

Women's rights are under attack.

Voting rights are under attack.

Racism is on the rise.

A small group are trying to turn our Democratic Republic into a Southern Baptist Christian Theocracy.

I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel.

[Poll_Blind]

32. Happy birthday, wish I could have offered it under better circumstances. And also...

...the light isn't always at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes it's the light inside us that keeps us moving forward.



PB

[SamKnause]

33. Light

Thank you.

[Poll_Blind]

29. So basically the dude tazed that little naked napalmed girl running down the road in Vietnam.

Remember that pic?

You know, one day some cop's gonna taze an infant and you're going to see video of that baby flopping around on the ground like a live fish in a hot skillet. And at some point, in between desperately trying to unsee that, you're going to wonder to yourself "This shit...we didn't get here overnight."

And you'd be right.

This is one of the stepping stones to that day.

PB

[JoeyT]

40. And when that happens,

there will be at least a half a dozen people here insisting you're being ridiculous because you haven't heard the cop's side of the story.

Pictures of a police officer carrying milk will be posted.

[Poll_Blind]

41. ^ Truth.

PB

[Bonobo]

53. And on that day, someone will defend it.

What else could the cop do? Some people just hate cops and will criticize them no matter what?

What would YOU do if a toddler didn't respond to your orders? Tazering them is the only way to protect them! If you tried to pick up and restrain the rampaging toddler, you might accidentally hurt it, so the MANUAL says that you should taser it.

Don't blame the cop, it is SOP. It is in the manual! Did I mention some people just hate cops no matter what they do?

[B Calm]

36. It's bad enough that we have to

worry about the gun toting Zimmerman's in this country, but some cops are even worse!

[Democracyinkind]

37. In such a situation, in the US, I would never call the cops.

Too many have died this way.

I was posting about my differing experiences from living here and in the US. Here, I wouldn't hesitate one second to call the cops in such a situation. Another big and quite significant difference.

[duffyduff]

51. Yeah, just let her get hit by a car

Apparently you don't know southern Oregon.

[chillfactor]

60. apparently you now nothing about autistic children

or how handle them..you seem to be as mentally unblanced as the cop was.....

[Democracyinkind]

61. Because calling the cops is the only option, sheesh.

Yeah, tha's what I meant: Just ignore her.


Really??

[Orsino]

38. The taser is the convenient off switch tyrants have dreamed of for millennia.

What too many law enforcement officers--and ordinary citizens--forget is that it's also lethal in a certain percentage of cases.

[Revanchist]

59. I found a video on the story with an eyewitness account

I think the officer was female, at the 1:39 mark he said if she had waited for backup. Not that I think that justifies what happened.