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Panel Says Taser Use on Teen Library Patron JustifiedA 15-member citizen’s panel unanimously ruled January 6 that Chandler, Arizona, police officer Arturo Salazar was justified when he used an electronic Taser to stun a 13-year-old girl during a library disturbance last fall. Salazar and Officer Marc Olivier were called to the Chandler Public Library September 29 after a 58-year-old woman reported that someone had thrown a book at her, striking her in the back. According to the police report, the teen suspect was verbally combative and struggled when Olivier tried to lead her from the library. Salazar said he used the Taser to give a five-second electric jolt because he believed the girl was about to kick Olivier, the Phoenix Arizona Republic reported January 10. According to the Taser manufacturer’s website, the device emits a nonlethal electrical shock of several thousand volts, causing an instant loss of neuromuscular control that momentarily stuns a suspect. Members of the Chandler Citizen’s Panel for Review of Police Complaints and Use of Force asked officers questions about the device’s safety before agreeing with an earlier internal investigation that found Salazar had not used excessive force and had acted within policy. “I guess it’s okay for police to victimize our children,” Beatrice Feliz, the teen’s mother, remarked sarcastically after the vote. “It was police brutality.” Posted January 15, 2004. |
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