Technically, hitting a police officer means the officer of cleared to use a taser...I'm pretty sure the way it works is that an officer is allowed to use a level of force 1 higher then the Assailant, the levels being threats and unruly behavior<unarmed strikes<Nonlethal weapons and Melee weapons<firearms. So Unarmed strikes clear the officer for useing things like a taser (Please, correct me if I'm wrong, I remember this fuzzily, and am curious if I'm remembering accurately.) So strictly speaking, the officer has something to point to in order to prevent him from getting into major problem. Then again, I'm straining my brain to figure out a situation where a 10 year old girl could pose a considerable threat to a Cop. I would imagine that just physically restraining her would be well within his capacity, and hope that this reflects negatively on his career. I am actually going to show a little sympathy here for the mother. Calling a cop in because her daughter won't take a shower seems pretty ridiculous on the surface, but I imagine that the problem goes a lot deeper then just a shower: A shower likely just brought the situation to a head. I think this because if she was willing to kick a Cop, obviously the girl is in serious need of help, well beyond councilling and into the realm of some serious medication. This isn't a matter of a misbehaved child, this is a matter of something being radically wrong with her brain. I guess that a mentally ill child, a parent at there wits end, and a cop who loses his composure when he gets kicked in the nuts is less entertaining then a neglectful parent, evil child, or brutal cop, but I suspect it's closer to the truth.
Off topic, what's the term for the standard that cops use for the zone within (I believe) 14 feet around a cop where a person with a melee weapon would be able to strike the cop before they can fire their gun? The something Standard, I think? I know this is completely unrelated, but I'm hoping that those people pulled to this thread have some cop knowledge, and I recently needed to use the term, and I absolutely can't find it. It's bothering me greatly.
