What do you do when your child refuses to take a shower before bed? Like any good parent, an Arkansas mother called the police and asked the responding officer to tase her daughter—and he did!
Officer 
Dustin Bradshaw arrived at the home and found the girl, Kiara Medlock, “balled up in [sic] the floor crying and screaming. I made several attempts to speak with her and she continued behaving in this manner.” You may be saying, “So what?” But where you see an upset child throwing a tantrum, Officer Bradshaw sees an uncooperative suspect whom he must bring to justice.
As Kelly King continued trying to force her distressed child into the shower, Officer Douchebag Bradshaw notes, “I witnessed… screaming, kicking, and resisting every time her mother tried to touch her.” At this point, Ma King told Bradshaw to tase Kiara if necessary. Stop the presses! We have a new nominee for Mom of the Year!
“(W)e carried her to the shower,” the officer writes. If you’re wondering what business a police officer has bodily picking up someone in their own home and carrying them into the bathroom to force them to take a shower, I can’t help you.
When the girl still refused, Bradshaw “decided that there was not going to be a peaceful resolution to the issue” (of a ten year old taking a shower!).
“I moved her into the living room area and told her she was going to jail. She continued kicking and crying….” How do you expect a 10-year-old to react when told she is being arrested? I’m so sorry, officer. I had no idea I was being a problem. I will now calm down and cooperate completely.
The official report continues, “She was jerking her arms away from me violently while I was trying to cuff her and thrashing about wildly. While she was violently kicking and verbally combative, Kiara struck me with her legs and feet in the groin.” Good. “The subject was actively resisting arrest at the time.” I seriously doubt a 10-year-old has any concept of what “resisting arrest” means or the consequences thereof. “I was having difficulty placing the cuffs on her and administered a very brief drive stun to her back with my taser. She immediately stopped resisting and was placed in handcuffs.”
Big Bad Officer Bradshaw got beat up by a little girl so he forced her to do as he commanded. What a courageous victory for “the good guys.”
As a coup de grâce, Officer Bradshaw gets in one more dig at this violent, evil offender: “She would not walk on her own and I had to carry her to my police car.” Would not. Little biatch still won’t cooperate! Couldn’t be “could not” as a result of being tased into submission could it? Nah. It’s not like that was the whole point of Tasering her, right?
Officer Valiant Bradshaw arrested little Kiara for “disorderly conduct,” the vague police catch-all for “we don’t like ya and, bygum, we gonna arrest ya for sumtin!”
Note how the abusing arresting officer diminutizes his actions, “a very brief drive stun to her back,” while amping up what a violent offender he valiantly took down: “not going to be a peaceful resolution,” “jerking… violently,” “thrashing… wildly,” “violently kicking,” “verbally combative,” “actively resisting arrest.” All this in a situation he really should not have got involved in, particularly not to the level he did.
I’ve seen atrocious situations police completely washed their hands of, refusing in any way to get involved because the situation supposedly fell outside their purview. “That’s a civil, not a criminal matter,” is one of their favorite dodges. For a cop to insert himself into such a common domestic matter as a child’s bedtime ritual is… insane. The only thing crazier is for the mother to have instigated it.
If ever there was a situation for the official police stance to be “this is none of our business” this is it!. To have not only gotten involved, but to the level he did is outrageous. Physically carrying the child into the bathroom? Then back to the living room to effect an arrest? Seriously, you’re way past the point of, “I’ve done all I can, ma’am. Here’s the number of free family counseling. Goodbye.”
Police Chief Jim Noggle defended his officer, saying Kiara was only tased for “less than a second,” and had the officer tried forcing the handcuffs on her, he could have broken her arms or legs, completely sidestepping the issue of whether arresting the girl, or being involved at all, was appropriate police action.
According to USA Today, Arkansas state police have refused to investigate the officer’s actions, saying they only investigate criminal, not policy, matters. The FBI has similarly refused. That’s exactly the stance Ozark police should have taken when asked to intervene in a little girl’s bathing routine.
Update: Officer Bradshaw has been fired—not for Tasering Kiara, but for not filming it! (story here)
SOURCES:
The Smoking Gun: Cop Tases 10-Year-Old Girl (including girl’s picture and copy of official police report)
USA Today: “Ark. officer Tasers girl who resisted bedtime shower”
Southwest Times Record: “Ozark Police Chief Fires Officer Who Used Stun Gun On Girl”
