A Missouri teenager is in a medically induced coma with brain damage after being shot in the heart with a taser by an Independence cop.
The cop asserts the youth was uncooperative and combative during a traffic stop, but eyewitnesses and videos dispute that, and the FBI has initiated an excessive force investigation. Witnesses say the cop dragged the youth out of the car, let his head hit the pavement, then stood with a foot on the boy’s convulsing body for over 5 minutes making no attempt to summon or render emergency medical assistance.
The youth, who is white and the son of a Kansas City police officer, has no record but was driving a car that didn’t belong to him and was pulled over because of a warrant for a woman associated with the car.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/missouri-teen-in-coma-after-being-hit-by-police-stun-gun/
http://aattp.org/teen-in-coma-has-brain-damage-after-being-tased-by-police-video/
Comment: We’re clearly experiencing an epidemic of cop violence in America and something needs to be done about it.
This should include more restrictive use of force (UOF) policies, less police immunity from prosecution, making the offending cops not taxpayers responsible for paying legal settlements arising from egregious UOF violations, and revamping hiring and training practices to demilitarize police departments.
I’m obviously not contending that all cops are bad, to the contrary most are doing a fine job, but there are bad apples who need weeding out.
Here in Seattle, 100+ cops have filed a lawsuit to block implementation of the city’s revised UOF policy instituted after a federal investigation of SPD brutality against civilians. I think the judge should tell them they don’t have a constitutional right to be cops, and violating citizens’ constitutional rights should disqualify a person from being a cop. And lying in official reports about what happened in an incident involving use of force should result in job termination and perjury prosecution. 