Kevin James, move over, a new mall cop's in town.
Darien Long, a shopping mall security guard, has received a rush of donations after posting a video that showed him applying a Taser to an abusive woman outside an Atlanta mall.
After telling the woman to leave for disorderly conduct, Long is heard on the video saying, “Back it up,” and shows her the Taser. The woman begins hitting him on the head anyway, and Long uses the Taser on the woman, who drops to the ground near the children she is with, who appear understandably upset.
The shocking video, filmed last May, went viral, and a crowdsourced campaign to raise money to get the mall guard even better equipment has already brought in some $20,000.
Long, who has been the property manager for a year, told local Atlanta news station WSB-TV, “I feel like the Taser and the camera are the two most effective tools that I have. Do what you're supposed to do, or you get what's coming to you.”
The local TV network also reports that the woman shown in the video was charged with criminal trespass, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and simple battery.
Long records every confrontation, and many of the videos he has posted to YouTube have gone viral. One shows him chasing drug dealers out of the mall, pointing the Taser and using another effective tool: a clipboard where he records the incident. Amazingly, the drug dealers back down and walk away.
The mall guard said, “What you do is clean up the neighborhood so other businesses can come in and downtown Atlanta can prosper.”