The Cincinnati Police Department’s use-of-force policies have been amended as they relate to Taser use, according to a memo from City Manager Patrick Duhaney today.
The amendment strikes a section of CPD’s use-of-force manual that specified use of Tasers is permitted on suspects between the ages of 7 and 70. Instead, the new guidelines add more emphasis on de-escalation efforts and suggestions for situations in which officers should avoid using Tasers.
“Officers should avoid using the Taser on persons who reasonably appear to be, or are known to be, young children, elderly, medically infirm, pregnant, or users of a cardiac pacemaker,” the new guidelines provided to Duhaney by Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac read. “Officers are not prohibited from using the Taser on such persons, but use is limited to those exceptional circumstances where the potential benefits of using a Taser (i.e., injury reduction) reasonably outweighs the risks and concerns.”
The guidelines were agreed upon by CPD, the city manager, Cincinnati’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 69 and the Citizen Complaint Authority.
According to the memo, the new guidelines are written to help officers better determine whether use of force would meet the so-called “objective reasonableness standard,” a benchmark for the appropriateness of police use of force set by the 1989 Supreme Court case Graham v. Connor.
The standard “takes an officer’s unique perception of a situation into account when evaluating their decision-making process in use of force cases,” Duhaney writes in his memo.
The changes come after an off-duty Cincinnati police officer tased an 11-year-old girl while working a security detail at Kroger near Spring Grove Village.
Officer Kevin Brown was working the detail Aug. 6, 2018 when he tased Donesha Gowdy after he attempted to stop her and other girls whom store employees suspected of shoplifting food. Gowdy continued walking away from Brown after he asked her to stop, at which point he deployed the taser, hitting her in the lower back and shoulder. Gowdy was taken into custody and later released after a trip to the hospital.
Gowdy’s family sued CPD for use of excessive force, and the city and Kroger settled that suit for $240,000 in October. That settlement must be approved by a probate court, which will ensure it is spent on Gowdy’s emotional well-being.
Brown was suspended for seven days and was barred from working off-duty assignments for two months as punishment for the incident.
Gowdy’s family says the event was traumatizing to the girl and her sister, who witnessed the tasing.
Gowdy family attorney Al Gerhardstein says the incident isn’t a one-off, citing CPD data that shows that more than 100 people under the age of 18 were tased by CPD over the past five years — nearly all of them black.
“Our investigation shows a pattern of excessive force against nonviolent young people,” Gerhardstein said in a statement. “A thorough review of juvenile policing practices is needed. Donesha was only accused of taking snacks and a onesie. She has written an apology to Kroger. She should not have been subjected to such severe force.”
Brown violated multiple department policies, an internal CPD use-of-force report released in September found. While official policy then allowed officers to use tasers on anyone aged 7 to 70, other aspects of Brown’s behavior did not align with CPD use-of-force practices. It was the second time last year questions emerged about CPD use of Tasers on minors. In April, a CPD officer used a Taser on a minor near Hughes High School, which caused controversy. CityBeat has requested body camera footage and documentation of the investigation into that incident.
This article appears in Jan 23-30, 2019.
