Police pepper spray 8 year old

[Dirty Hipsters]

Seriously, when I was a kid, I was like that. They just held me down and told me to STFU. These teachers are pussy's. I mean that sincerely.

And to everyone saying he had a sharp object. HE HAD A STICK. IT WAS NOT SHARP. IT WAS A STICK.

He said he wanted to find a sharp object, but (i didn't watch the video here, so if i'm wrong, well, DURRRR HERP DERP on my behalf) he had a stick. He is eight. Those teachers suck. So does his mother.

I've already said this about another post, but I'll repeat it:

Remember, teachers aren't allowed to so much as TOUCH a child without a lawsuit anymore. I'm sure they could have easily taken him, but they chose to call the police instead, because that's protocol and it takes responsibility from the school district for any injuries that the child may sustain.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

It didn't do anything to him. It calmed him down. It was justified. Police had been called on him two other times? He needs parenting. Badly.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Pepper spray's not bad. Its not like the guy who works in the police department who watches over the district I live in. He carries a cattle prod.

Twice may be a bit excessive (but then again, once just doesnt always cut it unless you get someone good), though he pretty much damned himself when he said he wanted to make something sharp to hurt someone, and shouted if you come out you're gonna die. Thats not even childish banter anymore, thats just a legitimant threat. Besides, he has a history, and they had tried to deescalate the situation (at least it says they did, nad I choose to believe this.

and on a side note (and I shouldnt say this), be he looks like he needed that.

And why do you need to remind people that this is a school district with the columbine incident? thats not helping anything, and no one wants to hear that.

 

[chowderface]

I'd say justified, for the cops personally. One of the comments the mom made implied that some but not all of the police in the area are trained to deal with kids in situations like this, and the cops sent out weren't on that list. So given their options, they made the right choice; I'd say that the person who dispatched the police should have been more aware of the situation and sent officers who were trained for such a situation though.

I think it's excessive force. Pepper spray can be leathal if the person has an allergic reaction to it. I don't think you should use it in a situation that doesn't call for leathal force. Same with tasers.

What are the stats on that, though? The whole point of pepper spray is that it is, in fact, a non-lethal deterrent. Unless allergies to it are super-common, it's not really reasonable to discontinue a tool like that.

Same for tasers. They're specifically designed and tested to be non-lethal; situations in which they ARE lethal (say, damaging a pacemaker) are unfortunate, but not common enough to justify not using them.

There's no perfect solution to this problem. Anything that's meant to disable people temporarily is going to carry a risk of being used on that tiny segment of the population who are somehow fatally sensitive to the factor that makes it effective for disabling people. They're not just throwing this shit around willy-nilly, they've studied it and have determined that the risk of causing serious harm is low enough that they can use the tool and reasonably expect not to end up using it on someone who reacts badly.

 

[Ashendarei]

Honestly, I would have either tazed the little bastard, or pepper sprayed him. 100% behind the cops on this one.

And that mother? god damn ... "they could have called in and asked for a special unit who talks with children" ... FAILURE of a parent, who has NO right to complain when her failure as a parent is clearly at fault here.

If your kid is 8 years old, and has already been talked to by police on no less then 3 occasions, I think it's a pretty safe bet that there is a serious lack of parenting at home.

Here's a sobering thought for you fellow Escapist readers: That's the future generation of America ....

 

[Dogstile]

Seriously, when I was a kid, I was like that. They just held me down and told me to STFU. These teachers are pussy's. I mean that sincerely.

And to everyone saying he had a sharp object. HE HAD A STICK. IT WAS NOT SHARP. IT WAS A STICK.

He said he wanted to find a sharp object, but (i didn't watch the video here, so if i'm wrong, well, DURRRR HERP DERP on my behalf) he had a stick. He is eight. Those teachers suck. So does his mother.

I've already said this about another post, but I'll repeat it:

Remember, teachers aren't allowed to so much as TOUCH a child without a lawsuit anymore. I'm sure they could have easily taken him, but they chose to call the police instead, because that's protocol and it takes responsibility from the school district for any injuries that the child may sustain.

I know, but I still find it stupid. I hate all the lawsuits flying around nowadays. It was so much better when if a kid mouthed off he'd get told to STFU. My old teacher actually had a thing for snapping a ruler on our desks. Worked rather well. He also had a tennis ball, but he'd only throw that at us if he knew us well.

But still, lawsuits are ruining education.

 

[Revolutionary]

S**t, short of shooting a net or something at him, that's about the kindest way they could have stopped him.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

The kid had a sharp object which indicates that he had harmful motives. But he's eight. I mean yeah, they had to stop him, but if you've been trained to take down a full grown man how hard is it to grab an eight year old and hold him down?

Yeah, because a 180 pound cop tackling an 80 pound kid is definitely a better idea than pepper spraying him. At least the pepper spray won't leave broken bones and internal injuries.

 

[Verlander]

There are some serious issues that need to be dealt with amongst a lot of this site, what with the encouragement to break this child's limbs and tazer him...

I think the response was a little extreme, but I'm British. Our coppers wear stab proof clothing and suchlike, and so an 8 year old would be easy to subdue without getting hurt yourself, or needing to hurt him. Seeing as this is an American story, I think it went quite well, with him not being shot and all.

Either way, the kid needs sorting out. I wonder how much responsibility the parents have to take?

 

[BanthaFodder]

pepper spray's non-lethal. the kid was threatening to kill people, he had a weapon, he was in a school for kids with behavioral problems (but HE doesnt have ANY mental problems, no sir...), so yeah, the police were totally justified. the article says they tried to talk him out of it. so to anyone who thinks the police were totally wrong, what course of action would YOU take with a mentally unstable kid wielding a sharpened object and threatening people's lives?

 

[LCP]

Here's a sobering thought for you fellow Escapist readers: That's the future generation of America ....

He should have been beat with the stick he was threatening people with

 

[Ungenericteen]

The kid was trying to KILL two people. I think they should have snapped his arms and legs.

Kill people with a stick when he's 8?

I think pepper spray is fine in this situation since parenting obviously has failed. But he wasn't going to kill anyone.

Pepper spray is actually the best thing the police could have done actually a stick counts as a lethal weapons(which merits shooting) so they were more justified even though it may hurt it's better than breaking his arms and legs and his ribs

 

[Zeema]

I rekon the kid should of been shot but then you would hear the mum go

'Oh he was always a good kid' blah blah blah 'The police were to mean'

People wont take responsibility for there actions any more.

 

[OutforEC]

Seriously, when I was a kid, I was like that. They just held me down and told me to STFU. These teachers are pussy's. I mean that sincerely.

And to everyone saying he had a sharp object. HE HAD A STICK. IT WAS NOT SHARP. IT WAS A STICK.

He said he wanted to find a sharp object, but (i didn't watch the video here, so if i'm wrong, well, DURRRR HERP DERP on my behalf) he had a stick. He is eight. Those teachers suck. So does his mother.

I've already said this about another post, but I'll repeat it:

Remember, teachers aren't allowed to so much as TOUCH a child without a lawsuit anymore. I'm sure they could have easily taken him, but they chose to call the police instead, because that's protocol and it takes responsibility from the school district for any injuries that the child may sustain.

I know, but I still find it stupid. I hate all the lawsuits flying around nowadays. It was so much better when if a kid mouthed off he'd get told to STFU. My old teacher actually had a thing for snapping a ruler on our desks. Worked rather well. He also had a tennis ball, but he'd only throw that at us if he knew us well.

But still, lawsuits are ruining education.

I remember my Jr. High Algebra teacher was rumored to have thrown a desk at an unruly student once. Not sure if it is true, but being as he was the coolest teacher I ever had, I wouldn't have put it past him.

Now, back to guarding my lawn...

 

[Ashendarei]

Here's a sobering thought for you fellow Escapist readers: That's the future generation of America ....

He should have been beat with the stick he was threatening people with

Right? Agree 100%

 

[Haydyn]

*Reads title*
First thought: Wow, that seems crazy. Must be a reason for this.
Second thought: Kids can get very violent. They are going to have a good reason.
*Clicks on thread then link*
Third thought: That child has the face of an evil creature. I just know he did something terrible.
*Sees name is Aidan*
Fourth thought: I strongly dislike that name. I have a personal bias against this kid. He did something horrible.
Fifth thought: I'm not going to judge him by his name. That's silly.
*Hears about what he did*
Sixth thought: Holy shit! They waited plenty long enough before stopping him!

Coming from somebody who was out of control as a child, and has threateed people, and has thrown chairs: This kid needs to learn FAST how to get control. I have empathy for him. I went through that shit. It can destroy your life. It can make you regret years of your life. I've been expelled from two schools for violence and unintentionally making threats afterwards. I would not wish the experience on anybody. The police did the right thing by using the pepper spray. I have a cousin who is going through the same crap as well. It kills me inside.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It gets easier to maintain calm behavior even with these disorders. I am a perfectly calm person almost all of the time now. It's like night and day. Something as small as a stray basketball bumping you at the gym can set you off and ruin your day. Today at the gym a kid's basketball accidentally knocked my ball out of my hands when I was about to shoot. I picked up his ball and gave it back to him. He said sorry, and I said "right on man" (something I must say 5 times a day.) Didn't get mad or frustrated; it was just an accident.

Thing is, had I been the person I was, that could have made me go from calm to angry and yelling in seconds. It's hard to get through life with those kinds of behavior problems. I have only the best wishes for Aidan. Kudos to the police officers for doing the right thing, even though it's not the prefered action of the average person.

 

[Gralian]

A pair of teachers trained to deal with troubled students overpowered by an 8 year old?

I call shenanigans.

Under current legislation there is no way to physically restrain a child. This is the problem. They cannot simply overpower and subdue him. They are fully liable for legal consequences if they so much as touch a minor, hence why we end up with measures such as macing somebody - because we cannot use any means of physical force to subdue children. I would say that pepper spray does not (generally) cause any lasting, permanent damage and it's probably a safer option than trying to restrain a minor with force with the possibility of breaking one or more bones, or causing any other form of injury that may include but would not be limited to lacerations, bruises, head injuries and so on.

I tend to be in support of 'difference-blind liberalism' in that everybody should follow the rules and suffer the consequences with no exceptions. But that isn't the focal point of my support in what the police did - they were able to bring the situation under control without means of physical violence or restraint, which is ultimately more preferable to attempting to subdue the child and causing injury, or at the very least, a legal fuck-up when the parent takes the law enforcement to court and claims her child was treated unfairly.

Sometimes, you can't just calm down a situation with words. Adult actions have adult consequences. Let's not forget the child has already had two incidents with the police in which he had to be 'talked down' and that he was allegedly wielding a weapon - a dangerous one, at that. By his own admission he wanted to 'create something sharp' and the fact he had issued death threats to the teachers indicates he was well aware of his actions and presented a very real threat that had to be subdued.

 

[xdom125x]

I think it's excessive force. Pepper spray can be leathal if the person has an allergic reaction to it. I don't think you should use it in a situation that doesn't call for leathal force. Same with tasers.

Wait, I don't understand. You want the cops to reserve use of less-than-lethal force for only when they want the guy dead because there is the off chance of the guy having an allergic reaction to it? If you want them to only use tasers and pepper spray for when they are trying to kill the guy, why not use a gun, or some other tool designed to kill.

Yes, somebody can have an allergic reaction to pepper-spray but i wouldn't make the cops stop using it for submission of a perp. I would consider that one of the risks of committing crimes and disrespecting the cops authoritay. Same applies for tasers in the off chance of some perp having a heart condition or something that would make a taser lethal.

 

[Eldarion]

Probly a little excessive to call the cops for an 8 year old having a bad day, well three bad days. My elementary school just had a room to chill in, you really had no choice about chillin in that room.

I think death threats and violence of the level described warranted police action.

As for the pepper spray? Its harmless, just stings like hell. Seriously, the kid is fine exepct for his apparent mental issues. Perhaps the little terror will think twice next time.