Pine Bluff police have begun an internal use-of-force investigation after an officer used a Taser on a 14-year-old boy Tuesday, Pine Bluff police spokesman said.
Officers were called to a burglary in progress on South Richard Drive around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Lt. David DeFoor, spokesman for the Pine Bluff Police Department.
When officers arrived at the location, three youths fled the scene, including the 14-year-old boy who jumped over a fence, DeFoor said.
An officer followed the boy and ordered him multiple times to get on the ground, DeFoor said.
The boy refused and approached the officer in an aggressive manner with his fist balled up, DeFoor said. After several warnings, the officer fired his Taser at the boy, he said.
DeFoor said the officer was aiming at the boy's body, but the Taser's electrodes hit the boy in the back of his head.
The boy was taken to a hospital for removal of a Taser electrode that was stuck in his head, DeFoor said.
DeFoor said police are allowed to use a Taser when dialogue has failed and a person has signaled his intent to resist an officer's arrest.
Pine Bluff Police Chief Jeff Hubanks said the officer who shot the boy with the Taser is not on administrative leave and the department's Office of Professional Standards will handle the investigation.
In internal investigations, Hubanks said investigators review possible audio and video of an occurrence, interview the officer involved and, if possible, talk with any witnesses.
He said internal investigations are designed to keep the department accountable to the public.
"If an officer used force on my child, I would want to know what happened," Hubanks said.
Pine Bluff police have on-person microphones that record audio, but those devices work only within a certain distance of the officer's vehicle, Hubanks said. He said he is not sure if there is audio available in this instance.
DeFoor said the department conducts dozens of use-of-force investigations each year. He said an internal investigation is opened anytime an officer deploys pepper spray, uses a Taser or causes an injury to somebody.
In the police report, DeFoor said an officer indicated that the boy went into shock, but no medical professional confirmed that.
Metro on 08/04/2016