[nopardons]

How long ago and where did you teach these "saintly"/scrawny innocents?

You have no idea WHAT she was stealing, so don't assume what it was!

You can't "talk to" a kid who is running away, nor one who is hitting/punching, whatever else she was doing to the cop/s!

You don't have any kids do you.

[varyouga]

It doesn't matter what they were stealing. It could be the damn crown jewels. Shoplifting places no lives at risk and does not warrant any deadly force.

Just like we learned after all the idiot police chases, sometimes it is best to let them go.

I currently teach middle schoolers in NYC. If you're a police officer, handling any one of them would be a joke. The school has a small NYPD guard (maybe 150lbs) who routinely gets into brawls with 4+ kids, no problem and no need for even a nightstick.