16 year old girl being tasered at Southbank (Brisbane)

(Fair Use) http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/768159/controversial-taser-footage-released

Controversial footage of a 16-yearold girl being tasered by a police officer in Queensland has been released, despite a legal bid to suppress the images.

The Taser incident, which has prompted scathing criticism from the Crime and Misconduct Commission, took place at South Bank, Brisbane last April.

The footage shows the young girl and a group of friends standing around a woman who appears to have passed out in a garden bed.

A security guard and police officer appear to be talking to the group when a scuffle erupts.

A pair of girls lash out and kick the officer, knocking the Taser out of his holster.

The policeman hits back, forcing the teenager into the garden. The officer tasers her in the leg, while a security guard holds her down.

Earlier on Friday, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Kathy Rynders had called a press conference to release the Taser footage.

But instead she told journalists that lawyers for the 16-year-old, who is taking civil action against police, did not want the footage released.

"Upon legal advice we will not release the footage," Ms Rynders said.

The police force has defended the incident after criticism from the head of the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC).

CMC chairman Robert Needham on Thursday said it had been "very poor policing by the officer involved".

The incident showed a "concerning pattern within QPS (Queensland Police Service) of handling policing incidents," he said.

Mr Needham said the officer used excessive force, used a Taser contrary to guidelines and exercised poor discretion.

But Ms Rynders said police had been put in a difficult situation at 12.42am on April 12.

"We felt it was in the public interest to release the footage so that it would allow people to see what happened on that night and to make their own assessment," she said.

She said that while the Taser was not the best option, some form of force was necessary to resolve the incident.

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News & Politics

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• queensland police
• taser
• 16-year-old girl
• southbank
• channel 9 news
• australia
• extreme force
• move on powers