CINCINNATI — Some officials in Cincinnati are calling for a change to police policy after an officer used his stun gun to shock an 11-year-old Ohio girl suspected of shoplifting from a supermarket.
Cincinnati police can use stun guns to incapacitate people as young as 7 years old if they’re actively evading arrest, under current policy.
Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman has proposed raising the minimum age for stun gun use by police to 12 years old. Police Chief Eliot Isaac said the department will review policies on use of force on minors, and that he was “extremely concerned” such force was used on a child that young.
Police said the officer suspected the girl was shoplifting Monday night from a Kroger Co. supermarket when he approached her. They said she ignored several commands to stop before the officer fired his stun gun at her back. She was taken to a hospital and later released to a parent.
The girl was charged with theft and obstructing justice, but Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, a Republican, dropped charges Wednesday after a call from Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley.
In later interviews, the girl admitted putting snacks in her backpack, saying her friends dared her to take them.
“They bet me to walk out, so I walked out,” she said. “When he told me to stop, I kept going because I was scared.”
Her mother said the officer should’ve known better than to use his stun gun, adding that her daughter didn’t deserve that kind of treatment.
“I’m not defending what she did, what she did was wrong,” the mother said. “But two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Police said the officer involved has been placed on restrictive duties while the department investigates his actions.
The Cincinnati branch of the NAACP issued a statement on Thursday that said the officer used “very poor judgment.” Cranley, a Democrat, also criticized his actions, saying that stunning the girl who “posed no danger to the police” was wrong.
“I want to understand . why the officer thought that tasing was the best use of force and not detaining the child,” said Smitherman, an independent.
Dan Hils, president of the local police union, defended the officer, who some say acted in accordance with procedure. He speculated in a Facebook post that grabbing and struggling with the girl instead would have ended in injuries and lawsuits.
Police are told they can use stun guns on individuals between the ages of 7 and 70 who are actively evading arrest. But they’re also tasked with weighing the severity of the crime and the risk the person poses to the public.
Hils called proposals to amend policy a “knee jerk reaction.”
“All uses of force by CPD are investigated,” Hils wrote. “Allow this to be investigated!”
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