Off-Duty Cop TASED 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL?!

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An off-duty police officer working security at a local Kroger supermarket tasered an 11-year-old girl he suspected of shoplifting.

According to multiple sources, Officer Kevin Brown was working an off-duty security detail at the Spring Grove Village Kroger when he approached a group of girls, one of whom he believed was putting food in her backpack. When Brown spoke to them, the girls ignored him and walked away, after which he stunned one of them with his taser.

She was arrested on charges of theft and taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for evaluation. After which, she was released into a parent’s custody. But now people are wondering: shoplifting or no, why is someone tasering an 11-year-old girl?

To raise eyebrows even further, the Cincinnati PD actually has a pretty wide-open policy for using tasers on suspects. Yeah, that’s the actual language: “Officers should avoid using the taser on individuals under the age of 7 or over the age of 70.”

And, that’s true. They should. But would anyone really be okay with 7-year-old being tased?

Despite technically staying on the right side of the police, Officer Brown has been placed on “restricted duty” pending an investigation.

A statement from police chief Eliot Isaac reads: “We are extremely concerned when force is used by one of our officers on a child of this age. As a result we will be taking a very thorough review of our policies as it relates to using force on juveniles as well as the propriety of the officers actions.”

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But the girl’s mother, Donna Gowdy, says that’s not good enough. Gowdy showed Cincinnati’s WCPO where the taser struck on her daughter’s back. She told reporters “if you can’t handle an 11-year-old girl, then you really need to get off the police force.”

And Gowdy isn’t alone in her condemnation of the officers actions. Cincinnati Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman says “We have a policy that says ‘if you’re 7, I can Tase you with 50,000 volts’ that, to me, doesn’t match our brand.” He favors changing the minimum age to use a Taser to stun a suspect to 12.

What do you guys think? Should there be consequences for tasing an 11-year-old? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @WhatsTrending.

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