Chief won’t outlaw use of tasers on kids

CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner says outlawing the use of tasers on children would unfairly hinder police who need to be able to make decision in the “heat of the moment”.

Mr Gunner, who is also Police Minister, was referring to footage obtained by the ABC of an incident that showed a 12-year-old being tasered in November last year.

Police caught them at a Palmerston service station after it was alleged they had been driving dangerously through school zones.

The footage showed a 17year-old and a 13-year-old tackled by police and the 12year-old tasered.

This week a judge found the 12-year-old’s arrest was unlawful. It has promoted National Children’s Commissioner Megan Mitchell to say the use of tasers on children should be stopped.

Ms Mitchell told the ABC she found it difficult to “accept that alternate methods for constraining and apprehend- ing children can’t be found and that officers would not be skilled in these”.

“I don’t think it’s ever appropriate (to taser a child) and I think it should be avoided at all costs, unless it’s an extreme situation and the public is in extreme danger,” Ms Mitchell said.

“We really should be trying to eliminate the use of tasers and especially in regards to children.”

But Mr Gunner said it was impossible for police to always know the age of an offender when they were trying to apprehend them.

“The difficulty is that police have to make their best decision in the heat of the moment ... sometimes police don’t know the age of the offender,” Mr Gunner said.

“(In that incident) the kid was driving recklessly through a school zone in school hours, it was a very dangerous situation and police responded the best they could.”

The Chief Minister said philosophically speaking he was opposed to tasers being used on children and believed police were too.

“They need some ability to be able to make a decision in the heat of the moment,” he said. A Northern Territory Police spokesman said an internal investigation found the officer did not break the law

“The criminal investigation is now complete,” he said.

“No breaches of law were identified.

“However, (a) Complaint Against Police is still being investigated on behalf of the Ombudsman.”