Police Taser and slap boy, 10

TWO officers called to subdue a violent 10-year-old boy have been suspended after one used a stun gun on the child and another slapped him in the mouth.

The child suffered no significant injuries, but both officers were placed on paid administrative leave while police in Indiana investigate the confrontation.

Martinsville police chief Jon Davis said he believed the officers could have controlled the six-and-a-half stone boy without using force.

“I think they could have just restrained the young man,” he said at a news conference. “Just held him down. Might have ended the situation.”

The sheriff’s department has taken over the investigation, and the police department would hold an internal review of the incident, which happened on Tuesday, Mr Davis said.

Capt William Jennings, who has been a policeman for 36 years, and Officer Darren Johnson responded to a call to find the boy, who was not identified, hitting, kicking and spitting on a caretaker as she held him down at a day care centre, according to police reports. Another woman, identified as the boy’s guardian, was also present.