Did Pepper support using Taser on kids?

Cincinnati Enquirer
Nov. 02, 2005

AD: " Stunning," a glossy mailer sent by the Service Employees International Union District 1199 attacking mayoral candidate David Pepper. Sent in at least two versions, appearing in mailboxes early this week.

EXCERPTS: "Sometimes it's shocking just how wrong our elected officials can be. David Pepper voted against a motion to stop Cincinnati Police from using Tasers on children who are 7 to 10 years old. Pepper's committee heard experts testify that children could 'suffer nerve or muscle damage from being shot by a Taser.' But David Pepper led the effort in the Law and Public Safety Committee to block reasonable new restrictions to stop police from using Tasers on our children."

A quote from Pepper: "I don't want to take one option off the table when we don't know what the other options are."

VISUALS: Larger version: A man in riot gear points a Taser at the camera. The text is printed over a dark thunderstorm scene. One picture shows Pepper with what appears to be a shocked look on his face.

Smaller version: A small boy with a backpack looks up at the camera next to the words, "Thanks to David Pepper, 7-year-olds could learn a stunning lesson."

FACT CHECK: The youngest child ever shot with a police Taser in Cincinnati was a 12-year-old wielding a knife. The motion in question would have asked the city manager to change police policy to forbid officers from using a Taser on a child 11 years old or younger.

The mailer cites a Jan. 5 story in the Cincinnati Post, "Council rejects Taser proposal," as support for its assertions. The story is quoted fairly except in one small respect: the biomedical engineer who said children could suffer nerve or muscle damage did not testify before the committee, but was interviewed by the Post by telephone.

The quote from Pepper is incomplete. The full quote, from the same Post story, was: "In those rare occurrences where a 9-year-old is holding a knife to another 9-year-old, I don't want to take one option off the table when we don't know what the other options are." The Taser proposal came in the form of a non-binding motion, and was rejected 5-4.

STRATEGY: The mailer is part of a $111,117 campaign by the Columbus-based union in its support of Pepper's opponent, state Sen. Mark Mallory.

RESPONSE: " No 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, or 11-year-old has ever been Tased. Let's get that fact straight," Pepper said. "It makes our police look not human, menacing, like they can't be trusted and they're out to get you and your kids. The next mayor should be supporting police. ... This comes down to a basic trust of the police that apparently my opponent doesn't have."