Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

This What Happens When You Are Disobedient To Your Parents

The controversy continues in Tucumcari over the police chief's decision to tase a 14 year old girl.

Chief Roger Hatcher says he had no choice but to tase 14 year old Kailee Martinez after she refused to obey his order to stop running away from him, following a physical fight with her mother.

Hatcher reportedly tased Kailee once in the back and once in the head. She needed 18 staples and six stitches to close the wound.

Kailee claims he tased her for no reason. She says she did not try to run away. Her family hired a lawyer to sue the city and police chief.

Chief Hatcher would not talk to us on camera because this is an on going investigation. He did tell NewsChannel10 he does not regret his actions. He adds he warned her several times and had no other choice when she did not listen to him.

SEE VIDEOS:
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.a...6-60b13bcdfd17

http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/...asp?S=10656571

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

Yep kind of over the top

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

Nope, less lethal force. Always obey the cops when they give instructions. But I have never heard of anyone being tazed in the head. That my be a problem, maybe he had bad aim.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

Uhm, let me get this straight...

A 14 (fourteen) year old girl is running away - understandable considering she beat up her mother and the cops are after her.

So this POLICE CHIEF(!?) decides the best action is to tase this 14 year old girl ... not once, but TWICE - including once in the back of the head?!

And this is the POLICE CHIEF!?!

A 14 year old girl runs from the cops and the PC's decision is - not to just wait, let her calm down and apprehend her later - no, he takes her on like he would a grown man - twice with the taser, once in the back of the head.

Either A) this is a BIG 14 year old girl, B) the PC is a midget or C) the PC went beyond reasonable force in restraining this girl.

I'm thinking C. The PC should be placed on administrative leave with no pay, be required to receive a taser shot one to the back and one to the back of the head, and he should be subject to review for the next 6-12 months with notice that any other excessive force will result in termination.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

How far could this girl run in Tucamcari? There's only one road in and one road out and that's an interstate...

The mother that was being beat up seems to think there was excessive force too because she is suing the city.

I would like to apend n david's post to add a d) the cop was too fat, or too lazy to chase the girl.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

Ugh Tucamcari ...

My brothers car broke down in Tucamcari on the way to PHX. We spent a couple days there. The only thing around us was an old K Mart ...

It was a painfully long 2 days there ...

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

So your advice would be for any 14 year old that assaults someone should just be allowed to disobey cops too? That is probably why she got tazed. I don't have to listen to you, I don't even listen to my mother.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

Not at all! You completely missed the point of the post.

Obviously this girl has issues. She should've listened to the cops instructions, and she needs to face the consequences of her actions ... however, those consequences shouldn't include stitches because a stupid cop used excessive force.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

And What About The Great Grandmother?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y5Y2c1c0_U

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

I do agree the stitches sounds horrible. However we don't know if she moved a certain way and the head taze was accidental. Or if the cop aimed for the head. If he did, then yes that was uncalled for.

I do have a background of running from cops when I was a teenager. That was a long time ago and thankfully they didn't have tazers then. But Texas cops were not gentle in the 60's either. In Dallas or Houston. I did learn never to kick a cop in Houston, the sidewalks are hard.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

I'm not sure if he was over the line in using a taser to subdue somebody who was not cooperating, but I do want to point out that she was not tased for disobeying her mom. It sounds more that the reason was not obeying lawful orders.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

Yes according to the law of the land - but look at this spiritually.

Could it be the Lord teaching her a lesson that you should not raise your hand to a parent?

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

LOL...Tasers are the new rod?

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

True, she was tased for running from the Police Chief ... but was it necessary to tase her TWICE? This is a 14 year old girl. What if it had killed her?

And ... what would the PC have done to an older male suspect ... take his gun out and shoot him? I wonder what the PD records on excessive force is there; with him in charge.

Reading through the PC's statement it's obvious he's not talking. His mouth is moving, but the words coming out are from his union rep and attorney. Any statement from him suggesting regret would only be seized upon by the attorney for the family seeking suit against the PC and city.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

I think he went too far. If it was someone who had used a weapon like in a robbery or murder or the PC had reason to believe she was about to harm the public, I could see using it. It was a high emotion domestic situation and the girl was probably no threat to the general public outside the domestic situation.

Just a P.S.: If I had signed up to be a police officer and enforce the law and I had to have a taser to apprehend a 14 year old girl, I'd go ahead and hand back in my badge and gun and let them get someone else. I'm just sayin....

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

I wonder if she will think twice before hitting her mom in the mouth again.

I just wonder.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

Yes, you should. Because there are 14 year old girls that will shoot and kill cops.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

So the officer either knew she was armed or had reason to believe she had a gun?

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

That arugement doesn't work in this situation. I'm sure the girl would be dead if she had a weapon. The news report is silent about the girl being armed, so I doubt the officer feared for his safety. Had the girl been armed and posed a danger to either the officer or public, I would feel differently about his use of force. However, her RUNNING AWAY from the officer doesn't mean she deserves getting tased.

Open the PC's record up, I bet he's had some anger/abuse issues in the past.

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

I think I just might agree with Cindy on this one...she obviously has trouble obeying orders. Not sure if she needed to be tasered twice or tasered in the back of the head, but I don't think I can spectulate much more because I wasn't there. We don't really know what this 14-year-old said or did. I'm all for equal rights and I'm against excessive punishments, but have you seen today's youths??? They are some of the most disrespectful kids I've ever seen...even in the church! God help me when my little girls grow up!

Re: Is This A Case of Excess Force or Is
 

No, Mike that is not what I am saying. Armed or not she was not obeying an officer that was telling her to stop. How did he know if she was armed or not. As far as you were saying if he couldn't handle a 14 year old girl by using a tazer he should just give up being a cop. I admit the whole head tazer part bothers me a lot. But we do not know all the circumstance of how that occurred.