Mother sues city over use of stun gun on 8-year-old

[alp227]

A mother is suing the City of Pierre, former police chief Bob Grandpre and several unidentified members of the Pierre Police Department, saying their use of a stun gun on her 8-year-old daughter last fall was excessive force.

Dawn Stenstrom filed the lawsuit in federal court on July 24, seeking compensatory and punitive damages and the recuperation of attorney’s fees, according to court documents.

Pierre Police officers responded to a call on Oct. 4 from the 2400 block of East Sully Avenue from a baby sitter watching the girl. The sitter said the girl, known in court documents as L.M.J., grabbed a paring knife and was threatening to harm herself.

One of the officers ultimately chose to use the stun gun to subdue the girl, although there is some discrepancy about the order of events during the incident between the claim and statements given by Grandpre to the Capital Journal after the incident.

full: http://www.capjournal.com/news/mother-sues-city-over-use-of-stun-gun-on-/article_140603d6-1f1b-11e4-be23-001a4bcf887a.html

Also picked up by Al Jazeera: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/10/taser-south-dakota.html

[Uncle Joe]

1. It seems to me the city should spend more on training their officers in negotiations, at

the very least the city should spend money on requiring their officers to wear cameras and mics on their shirts while on duty.

They could save money on court costs if nothing else.

On a thread by damnedifIknow.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025205873

Police brutality statistics apparently fell by 60 percent in one California town when all police officers were required to wear portable video cameras while on the job.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, a video of a CHP officer punching a fallen woman 11 times in the face went viral after it was filmed by a passing driver. But another video was even worse since it showed Albuquerque police shooting two suspects in the back, never mind when a homeless man was shot in the back.

The city of Rialto, California did a controlled study where the city’s 70 police officers were required to wear a video camera that recorded all of their interactions with the public. In 2012 alone complaints against Rialto police officers fell by 88 percent, while use of force by officers fell by almost 60 percent."

* Of course, one huge negative to outfitting every cop with a camera is public privacy concerns. But even the American Civil Liberties Union, which is usually quick to protest anything that might infringe upon personal privacy, says that the notable drop in police brutality statistics is worth it:

“Although we generally take a dim view of the proliferation of surveillance cameras in American life, police on-body cameras are different because of their potential to serve as a check against the abuse of power by police officers.”

http://www.inquisitr.com/1337944/police-brutality-statistics-in-the-united-states-fell-by-60-percent-when-cops-wear-video-cameras/

Thanks for the thread, alp.

[BrotherIvan]

2. Excellent

I also liked the idea put forth that lawsuits be paid out of the pension fund. I'm very sure that the cops would clean their act up right quick and make sure none of their fellow officers jeopardized their $$.

[liberalhistorian]

3. I live less than two hours from Pierre

a distance that, in this state, is considered almost nothing), and on an Indian reservation, one of nine in the state. This poor child was Native American, and only the latest in a very long line of Indian victims of police brutality and racist mistreatment (which has included wrongful killings) in this state. This story was huge in the native community when it first happened, but whites, as usual, mostly merely shrugged their shoulders, considering it a justification of their racist stereotypes. I am white, so I know just how racist many whites are in this state. I hope this mother gets the justice she and the child deserve. Had the child been white, the police would not have done this, I have no doubt of that.