Mount Sterling Police Department Shut Down; Officer Accused Of Using Taser On 9-Year-Old Boy

A small-town Ohio police department was shut down Friday after a cop allegedly used a taser on a 9-year-old boy, and the police chief kept quiet about it.

Details about the taser incident on Tuesday are few, but the Coshocton Tribune reported that the officer had been called to a Mount Sterling apartment where a child was refusing to go to school.

At some point, the visit became hostile and the part-time officer allegedly used a taser to subdue the boy. The police chief is accused of hiding the incident from village leaders.

City officials suspended Mount Sterling Police Chief Mike McCoy for three days, leaving the village without a police department. Meanwhile, the office's computers and weapons were seized, and state investigators are probing the incident, 10-TV reported.

The county sheriff's office will take over police operations in the area until city officials determine what to do next.

The closure isn't the first for the Mount Sterling police force. The village laid off all its officers except for the chief in September due to budget cuts, the station reported.

It's yet unclear when the department will be reformed.

Mount Sterling had a population of just under 2,000 in 2010, according to Census data.

Comments

[Lucile Barker]

04:45 PM on 04/25/2012

200 pound kid who doesn't want to go to school? Probably bullied there, and now bullied by the police. He doesn't need tasering, he needs help. Now he isn't going to have any trust in adults and I don't blame him. And his family needed to call nutritional counselling not the police!

[USMC 5831]

09:56 AM on 03/14/2012

More to the story is coming out that we're finding out. Also, the chief didn't cover it up. He reported it to the Mayor 2 days after the incident. Not 2yrs later. I'm curious to find out more, either way.

[rewith85man]

02:31 AM on 03/14/2012

Maybe, that kid is being bullied at school or so.

[Shayne ONeill]

10:10 PM on 04/24/2012

Yep. Although most kids will ponder truancy (hey kids are naughty, it comes with the territory), kids will rarely become staunch about it unless they are genuinely feeling that truancy is their only option. Something was going on with this kid , probably bullying, and what the kid needed was adults to show him love and take him seriously, rather than frigging electrocuting him and instilling a sense of fear of adults that can only lead to bad behavior later on in life. If kids can't trust the world of adults, they will end up fighting the world of adults, and then you have a problem.

[USMC 5831]

08:43 PM on 03/13/2012

Peace, everyone. I've had enough bra burning for my taste here lately. Lotta angry people out there. Hope it gets better for you.

[klincklanc]

03:44 PM on 03/13/2012

Still don't think homeland security should not be cut back?

[Just-the-truth]

03:27 PM on 03/13/2012

So, the police chief resigned and there is no longer a police force in the small village. The mother warned the child, which weighed at least 200 lbs that he would be shocked by the cop if he didn't cooperate. Her lawyer says she did not expect him to actually shock him.

[USMC 5831]

07:05 PM on 03/13/2012

A 200lbs uncooperative 9yr old? That's a big frigging kid! Are you serious or kidding?

[Just-the-truth]

11:40 PM on 03/13/2012

I'm serious, all info above was from the local newspaper listed in the story...click on it and see.

[cassiedima]

02:38 PM on 03/13/2012

Obviously there needs to be a little more information. Covering up the incident screams foul play. I believe that more should be done to enforce school attendance, but tasering just isn't the answer. It's a shame that children, especially teens, know that if they disagree with a parents authority, all they have to do is say "they yelled at me, I am verbally abused every day" and off goes the parent into an ugly investigation. I understand society became this way due to increasing child abuse, but, it's gotten way out of hand. There were times when I had to carry my six year old out of the house and put him on the bus. He wasn't being hurt at school. He just wanted to stay home with Grandma and play with his hotwheels.

[Theusernamejoe Was Taken]

12:30 PM on 03/13/2012

This is how this stupidity happens:

1. Studies and practical longitudinal studies show that since wide spread taser implementation in police departments nation wide, injuries to suspects has significantly decreased (whereas all other forms of taking someone into control is 'hands on', as well as use of intermediate weapons and pepper spray) cause more injuries, even when officers remain within policy (people resisting, etc)

2. Departments have by result instructed or highly encouraged their officers to use tasers in place of using hands on. Pepper spray is also permitted, but in many cases, it is up to the officer to use pepper spray vs. taser.

3. PROBLEM: Because of litigation and liability, it is far better to use a taser on someone who is being combative than hands on or other more injury prone tactics. Some police departments such as Mt. Sterling *may* have stupidly instructed or "high encouraged" Officers to NEVER put hands on someone who must be taken under control and is simply displaying agitated behavior, and to always use the taser.

Ergo, this stupidly causes some officers to use tasers when a 9 year old is acting up. The edict or pressure or high encouragement to use a taser over-rides common sense.

[Flame Bridesdottir]

11:22 AM on 03/13/2012

There really shouldn't be any argument about this. If what the officer did was the right thing to do, they wouldn't have tried to hide it. When I know I haven't done anything wrong, I stand firm and open myself to scrutiny. If there was no misconduct, why would the chief feel compelled to cover up the incident?

[USMC 5831]

07:53 AM on 03/13/2012

Wow! So many cop & military hatred on here. What is this? Woodstock? Hope none of you who bash us ever need our help one day. I'd hate to be the one to tell YOU. "Sorry, we can't help you. Try making an appointment with a therapist".

[blue rylie]

08:34 AM on 03/13/2012

I hate neither the military or the police but I do think that those carrying weapons and holding positions of authority need to behave accordingly. Time will tell why this kid was tased as more of the story comes out, but I have to say that as a parent I'd be hot if my kid was tased because the police allowed the situation to escalate instead of calming the situation down.

[USMC 5831]

09:55 AM on 03/13/2012

A lot are just assuming that they already know what exactly happened & how they would handle it even though not all the facts have been disclosed & more than half here have never been trained at all. Even if this cop was wrong, does that mean that ALL cops are former military rejects with no brains hired only for brute force. Maybe some of them need to go read the long, long list of officers & military killed in the line of duty before making such ignorant & rude comments. Both are under paid, over worked, put their lives on the line for people to spit on them. Yeah, I take it personal. They're both my family.

[Theusernamejoe Was Taken]

12:41 PM on 03/13/2012

It's not about calming him down, Officers cannot do that in most circumstances. It's about using the taser as opposed to simply taking him into control and hand cuffing him at most. Of course, handcuffing would still get backlash, but die down after people would realize that even 9 year olds can be physically out of control with constant kicking, striking, etc, even if not a danger to officers, a danger to themselves.

[Redhunteur]

08:37 AM on 03/13/2012

Well if YOU were one of those bullies who feels the need to taser 9 year olds, then YOU don't have to worry because I won't be calling YOU. There is a reason that people associate child abuse with catholic clergy and power abuse by authority figures; it happens. A lot. A better use of your passion on the subject should involve talking to the abusers than those reacting to the abuse they have committed.

[USMC 5831]

09:49 AM on 03/13/2012

I have never had an altercation with a minor, thankfully. But if a kid had pull a weapon on me, I would rather taze them than wrestle them. It is much safer than physical contact where both officer & child could get hurt very badly.

[dawns6]

06:33 AM on 03/13/2012

Why on earth did the mother even call the cops ? Obviously she has no control over her son and she needs to get herself sme therapy along with the child.Just saying I bet the boy was being bullied and wasnt getting any help from anywhere.As far as the cops go I wouldnt trust a single one of them .I know plenty and most are corrupt and need to loose thier jobs permanently with no pay.

[tabiyeh]

12:37 PM on 03/13/2012

Seriously...what parent can't get their child to go to school? Learn to be a better parent, take a class, read a book, it's not that easy but PLENTY of other parents get it just right.

[stayingsaneinthemadness]

02:36 PM on 03/13/2012

You never know, the kid might have a behavioral disorder, might become violent, out of control. There is a boy like this in my neighborhood who has been taken by the police multiple times since he was about this boys age. His parents do try, they are not slackers. He's locked them out of the house and smashed everything inside while they waited outside for police to arrive. He's bit, scrathed and punched his Mom, hit his DAd with objects and he isn't even in his teens yet. He was expelled from the grade school (for what I don't know). I really feel for his parents. You can't really understand what it's like unless you live in it. Some kids are more difficult than others. Especially if this is a single Mom, what else can she do? You cannot beat a behavioral disorder out of a child. And if a cop felt like a taser was necassary (although I'd rather a kid get tackled to the floor and held down if he's that out of control) it was probably really bad.

[wendoxia]

06:25 PM on 03/13/2012

then ths child needs to be taken away to a boarding school for troubled kids where he can get the help he needs. he doesnt need to be tasered. sheesh,

[SophiaFiat]

06:54 PM on 03/14/2012

Wise words. No, you cannot beat a behavioral disorder out of a child.

[ElectroJones]

05:19 AM on 03/13/2012

Brilliant. You win again, Ohio! You're the new Florida.

[SophiaFiat]

06:56 PM on 03/14/2012

Oh, God. I've been worried about this for a while, this Ohio-morphing-into-Florida. No, No, No!

[ElectroJones]

03:25 PM on 04/15/2012

I hope not. I grew up in Pittsburgh, and I spent a lot of time in Ohio.

[rosannf]

12:42 AM on 03/13/2012

Was the 10 year old boy holding a 10 inch knife...let's get the whole story people before making comments!

[scud420]

01:58 AM on 03/13/2012

9-years-old, and even if he was holding a 9 inch knife, a trained adult should have been able to disarm him without possibly killing him by using a taser.

[USMC 5831]

07:12 AM on 03/13/2012

Being tased is far from being possibly killed. And no one should wrestle anyone weilding a weapon (if that was the case). One slice in the correct place could kill you. Doesn't matter if they're 9 or 39.

[scud420]

01:28 PM on 03/22/2012

People die from tasers... so using a taser an possibly kill someone...

[kympathy]

12:26 AM on 03/13/2012

What in the WORLD are the parents doing calling the cops because the kid refuses to go to school? Grow up and be a parent! WHY didn't the kid want to go - maybe he was being bullied, now he gets bullied by his parent and then the cops, too. Poor kid, He'll have a nice complex when he grows up, or end up in prison....

[scud420]

01:58 AM on 03/13/2012

no kidding

[reporter1]

11:36 PM on 03/12/2012

Those nine-year-olds are soooooo scary.

[Whitney Miller]

11:23 AM on 03/13/2012

especially scary if they're the ones Ron Paul speaks of...

[rewith85man]

02:32 AM on 03/14/2012

It sounds like you are saying that Ron Paul is a pedophile.