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A town's police department has been closed amid claims of a cover up after an officer allegedly used a taser to subdue a nine-year-old boy.

Nearly 2,000 residents of Mount Sterling, in Ohio, have been left without local law enforcement after their police chief was suspended while officials investigated the incident.

The town's part-time officer was called to an apartment where a child was refusing to go to school, according to reports.

But during the call out, the visit became hostile and a taser was used to subdue the unnamed boy, Madison County Prosecutor Steve Pronai said.

The police chief Mike McCoy is accused of hiding the incident from village leaders.

City officials suspended him for three days, leaving the town without a functioning police department.

The office's computers and weapons were also seized, and state investigators are probing the incident.

Sheriff Jim Sabin said his office would temporarily handle patrolling the town, which has a population of just under 2,000 according to the 2010 census.

The town council will consider the police department's future during a meeting tonight.

The closure is not the first for the Mount Sterling police force.

The village laid off all its officers except for the chief in September due to budget cuts, according to local paper the Coshocton Tribune.

It is yet unclear when the department will be reformed.

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