CINCINNATI (WHDH) — A Cincinnati police officer violated the department’s policy after he allegedly used a stun gun on an 11-year-old shoplifting suspect.
Officer Kevin Brown shocked 11-year-old Donesha Gowdy with a stun gun last month after she allegedly stole $50 in food and clothing from a grocery store with two other juveniles, according to Cincinnati police.
“Sweetheart, the last thing I want to do is Tase you like that,” Brown can be heard saying on body camera video. “When I say stop, you stop. You know you’re caught. Just stop. That hurt my heart to do that to you.”
Brown stayed with Gowdy to keep her calm while the fire department removed the barbs from her back.
“OK, that’s one. Just relax,” he’s heard saying.
The body camera video also caught him defending his actions.
“I got to listen to all these idiots in the parking lot, tell me how I was wrong for tasing you,” he said. “You broke the law and you fled as I tried to apprehend you.”
Based on the police department’s internal review, Brown’s first policy violation was not warning Gowdy about the stun gun.
The use-of-force review also says Brown did not turn on his body camera in time and expressed a prejudice concerning race.
“You know what sweetheart? This is why there aren’t any grocery stores in the black community because of all of this going on,” he said.
The Cincinnati police chief has not yet said what disciplinary action Brown could face for this recent incident.
Brown has been reprimanded by the department before after he his body camera caught him using a homophobic slur about a year and a half ago.
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