The post commander of the Traverse City post of the State Police is defending the actions of an officer who shot a seventeen year-old girl with a Taser gun last Friday, the Traverse City Record Eagle reports. Officers say the girl tried to run away as they conducted a sobriety test on the driver of the car in which she had been riding.

Two Michigan teens have died this year after being shocked by police. Their deaths have prompted lawsuits against the police departments of Bay City and Warren and calls for review of the policies that govern Taser use.

On April 10 sixteen year-old Robert Mitchell of Detroit died after Warren police shocked him with a Taser gun. Police defended their decision to shock Mitchell after he ran from a car that had been stopped for expired tags.

On March 22, Brett Elder, 15, of Bay City, died after police shocked him with a Taser gun while responding to a call about an unruly party.

The Bay City Times has called for an investigation of police Taser policies and has noted that police have used the weapon against individuals who pose no threat to officers.