The Ozark police officer who used a stun gun to subdue a 10-year-old girl has been fired, but not for actually stunning the girl.
Officer Dustin Bradshaw’s employment with the Ozark Police Department was terminated Friday for violating Police Department policies and procedures, according to a news release issued by Ozark Police Chief Jim Noggle.
“The policy that Officer Bradshaw failed to obey is failure to have his camera placed on his Taser,” Noggle stated. “It is the officer’s duty to insure all of his equipment is present and in working order.”
Bradshaw used a stun gun to subdue the daughter of Kelly King after the child refused to behave and take a shower on Nov. 12. King called police seeking help in calming her daughter down. According to a police report written by Bradshaw, the child screamed, kicked and resisted every time King attempted to touch her.
“Her mother told me to Tase her if I needed to,” Bradshaw stated in the report.
After the child kicked Bradshaw in the groin, Bradshaw struggled to place handcuffs on the child. Bradshaw stated in the report that because the child continued to resist, he administered a brief drive stun to her back with his stun gun.
“She immediately stopped resisting and was placed into handcuffs,” Bradshaw stated. “She would not walk on her own and I had to carry her to my police car.”
Bradshaw, Noggle stated, had been ordered by a superior on Oct. 29 to start placing his camera on his stun gun and wear his video mic.
“When talking to another employee, Officer Bradshaw stated that it is worth a 5-point deduction just so he would not have to carry the cameras,” Noggle stated. “In the past, he had been told to wear and use his cameras by me on several occasions.”
Noggle said he terminated Bradshaw to maintain “the good of the discipline of the department.”
Along with his final payroll check, Bradshaw still needs to be paid for 196 hours of vacation time and is eligible for 10 paid holiday days he had accumulated, according to Noggle.
Ozark Mayor Vernon McDaniel said that Noggle consulted with him regarding what disciplinary measures to take against Bradshaw, but the decision to terminate Bradshaw was Noggle’s alone.
http://www.swtimes.com/articles/2009/12 ... 109_14.txt