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Rock Hill refuses to release officer's records who
used Taser on elderly woman
WIS
TV | December 31 2004
Rock Hill officials have refused a newspaper's request
to release the disciplinary records of a police officer who used a stun
gun on a 75-year-old woman in a retirement home.
City Manager Carey Smith told The (Rock Hill) Herald on
Tuesday disclosing the records would invade Officer Hattie Macon's privacy.
The newspaper had requested the records under the state's Freedom of Information
Act.
The Herald asked for the records after Macon used a stun
gun to subdue Margaret Kimbrell during an incident at a Rock Hill retirement
home. An internal Rock Hill police investigation found Macon should have
used a different restraint method first, but did not discipline her any
further.
An internal investigation provides eyewitness accounts
of what led Officer Macon to use the Taser on Kimbrell at EdenGardens Assisted
Living Home.
Kimbrell had refused to leave the nursing home after trying
to visit a sick friend on October 15th. A report says Kimbrell jerked away
from Macon as she tried to grab her and later swung her arm at Macon's face.
Kimbrell was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest.
The internal investigation report says Officer Macon contradicted
herself in statements. She remains on the force.
Last month Rock Hill Police Chief John Gregory said Macon,
who joined the department about a year-and-a-half ago, should have tried
a less intense method. He says an internal investigation concluded Macon
should have tried to hold Kimbrell's arms and wrists before using the Taser.
Rock Hill Police use Tasers to control people who are punching,
kicking or biting, or for suspects who are fleeing or refusing to be handcuffed.
Chief Gregory says he recently began discouraging officers from using the
devices on fleeing suspects who aren't considered dangerous.
Police say Tasers cut back on injuries
to officers and suspects because they reduce the need for physical struggles.
But, civil libertarians question whether the devices are safe and have called
for their use to be limited.
