When kids call the cops...

[hayes]

I have a charming, 'slightly' crazed 7 year old boy (stepson technically). He's under ADHD medication (we're still working on treatment...), has absolutely zero fear of anything, take your eyes off him for 5 seconds and he's 8 feet off the ground. We spank him from time to time, because it makes him stop and look at you and remember that you exist. Recently he's decided that he's going to call the cops on us - so we talked about emergency numbers and what those are for. The other day he mentioned this idea again, I reminded him about emergency numbers and then he reeled off our local police's number...(he's obviously seen this somewhere, he has a thing for numbers so he won't forget it). So now his regular response to getting in trouble is reeling off this number. We're attempting to just ignore him but, knowing him, I have a suspicious feeling that he will use that number sometime soon and report that we're doing something to him. It's beginning to concern us.
So I'm just wondering what sort of a police response that would get? What would happen?
This kid always has cuts, scrapes, bruises all over him because he has no sense of danger. Not too long ago he broke his arm when he tried to launch himself off a trampoline and into a tree. And at the hospital he told the Dr I slammed the door on his arm (which is something he's accidentally done to himself before). Then he laughed hysterically about his little story. The Dr seemed to seriously consider this comment for a while (despite him sitting laughing) and eventually told my wife and I that it didn't appear that his injuries had been caused by a door - she seemed to put a lot of weight in his story - which gives us a 'what's he going to say next?' concern.
The kid's a liability! Good thing he's a lot of fun despite all the hard work and fears for his safety.
Sorry for the length, the point is, what sort of situation would we find ourselves in if/when (!) he makes a call? We do attempt to restrict his access to the phones but, he's a sharp one.

[Kimble]

Most of us can only speak for how our specific department would likely handle the matter, as policies and procedures vary. My department would likely dispatch an officer to ensure everything was okay, and after hearing the story from you and your wife of what was going on document everything briefly in our computerized dispatch system (CAD) and call it a day. You certainly wouldn't be hauled off to jail, and I doubt we'd even do an actual (paper) report on something that... well, silly and innocent.

Also, realize that many of us (cops) are parents too. We have kids who also get scraps, cuts, bruises by just being kids, and we don't automatically assume "abuse" if we see this and no other evidence of actual abuse.

[hayes]

Thanks for the response. It brings some comfort. I probably wouldn't have even asked if we didn't have that incident recently at the hospital that made us feel like they were about to call CPS.
He hasn't called yet...he still knows the number and would likely also wonder if it was a good way to get to lights and sirens too.

[ChesCopPodz]

There have been times that my 2 year old has had so many bruises from his explorations that I was actually worried that if someone saw all of them, they'd call on me. I was a tree climbing, trouble finding kid and had plenty of bruises and injuries.

Usually it's pretty easy to tell when a kid is making stuff up, and when a kid is actually abused by his parents. If I showed up at your house, it'd be a quick visit and i'd be out of your business. I've never been called by a kid that young, but every time I've been called by a kid calling on his/her parents, my first question to the kid is always "what did you do that caused this?".

[Joeyd6]

I am a big fan of proactive parenting. I used to have parents come/call to the precinct and explain their littel one had certain behaviorial issues or threatened to call 911 if disciplined. We use to set-up a mutual time to bring them in. They got a tour....and while in a holding cell....a little lecture about abusing 911 and not behaving or follwing rule. We used real broad and simple terms to make sure they drew the conclusion that if they did not follow mom and dads rules, lied, stole, hit others or abused 911 they could end up here. We showed them the juvenile arrest area and made it clear to them that if they did anything wrong, mom and dad could call me direct. That usually worked fro mom and dad. One special kid, Mark, required a few check-ups from me when we had down time to make him think I was all over him. Mark is now 21.....and applying to be a cop. He e-mails me every so often and thanks me, as does his mom and dad.

[hayes]

Thanks for the responses. It's good to hear this would likely turn into a pretty painless experience.
Joeyd6 - sounds like you've done some good work with kids over the years! I think my son understands that he can't call 911 on this (and aren't I proud that little smartie came up with the alternative way to contact Police all by himself....) but I would hope that if he happened to there might be someone with your approach among our local LE. He's not a "bad" kid. He just can't sit still for 2 seconds, doesn't seem to have much of a concept that he can/will hurt himself, and gets too wound up in himself to remember that there might be people in the world trying to talk to him...when we can keep him busy, life is fine.

[Joeyd6]

Hayes,

Sorry about my piss poor spelling.....blackberry has no spell check. If the cops come...have the family docs name and number handy and tell them your sons issues and tell them they can call the doc.

Also, no parent wants to hear this but it might help if you send him to a counselor for one or two sessions and decide if he needs more. I don't think kids need meds (great 20/20 expo on Friday on foster gets getting slammed with meds and acting out vs when taken off they were fine) and a few sessions might determine if he needs a little more or give some tips to helping mange him.

[hayes]

Yeap, good idea about the Drs number.

We're still working with Drs/ADHD counselors at the moment. I completely understand your comments, I don't like the meds either. The only thing that wins me over right now is that school's a mess so ok, let's try it at least on school days. But I'm watching real close for side effects...

To be perfectly honest I was one of those people who used to think "ADHD?? Just discipline your bratty kid". But I can see that this kid's brain just ticks over a bit differently. He doesn't see everything as he should. And he actually can NOT stop moving - I don't know how he does it, it seems exhausting to me.

[hayes]

A couple of days ago my little man did place a call with our local Police - thankfully he didn't call 911, just the local number and told them a story (we were having a bad day). They did send a couple of officers over. Completely painless. My son looked pleased with himself when he saw the car arrive (he was a little wiseguy about the whole thing..). And then funnily enough wanted to disappear when he figured out he would actually have to now talk to the Police officers. It didn't take long for the officers to figure my son out (he has several marks and bruises right now but when one of the cops took him aside and asked him about them he forgot that he was meant to have been getting beaten up and down the street and truthfully told him his adventure stories). He got a little stern lecture from one of the cops about making up stories for them (we're still reinforcing that message). I'm not sure he listened too closely because then he just asked if he could see the lights and sirens. Uhh, no, this behavior needs no encouragement.
I'm glad I asked about this here, settled my nerves before it happened (thanks for that). It makes me cringe though, I know the Police have more important things to do...The officers were perfectly nice (we felt no pressure to prove ourselves) and put it down as 'part of the job', but yeap, still feel a bit stupid!
We're working on this little one...I don't know where he's even picked up this idea of telling abuse stories (bit concerning...). He has a baby sister that he's not very fond of, so I think attention a bit, no idea where he got this particular idea from though.

[Joeyd6]

Glad to hear your survived your first PD encounter and it was painless. Know we usually get advised how many times we have been called to that address in the past when a call comes in so the road is already being laid for the next time it happens in case it is different officers. My view was like yours with ADHD but that has changed over time. Hell, marriage is not what I thought it would be like. Good people change and adapt. Sounds like you are doing fine.

[hayes]

Know we usually get advised how many times we have been called to that address in the past when a call comes in so the road is already being laid for the next time it happens in case it is different officers.

Haha, the next time it happens??? Sad thing is you could be right, he tends to not stop and think back to what happened last time he tried something. Though I think he was quite put out that this didn't result in lights and sirens so the cops might be in his bad book right now.
All I know is we're just trying to be real careful with those phones. He's been told the consequences of 'unauthorized phone use' but he doesn't think so far ahead. Better to go for prevention here.

Thanks.

[Kimble]

It makes me cringe though, I know the Police have more important things to do...The officers were perfectly nice (we felt no pressure to prove ourselves) and put it down as 'part of the job', but yeap, still feel a bit stupid!

Look at it this way. Some adults hate the police, some so badly that they are willing to try to kill us (and in some cases they have). Any sort of disdain for police is not something folks suddenly acquire as adults, it's learned behavior over time as they have experiences with the police, often beginning when they were children or teenagers. So if this situation was one where the police could make a positive impact on your (step)child so that he doesn't develop a negative view of law enforcement down the road (while at the same time helping him know what boundaries he shouldn't cross with his behavior), then it wasn't a waste of the officers' time.

[hayes]

Look at it this way. Some adults hate the police, some so badly that they are willing to try to kill us (and in some cases they have). Any sort of disdain for police is not something folks suddenly acquire as adults, it's learned behavior over time as they have experiences with the police, often beginning when they were children or teenagers. So if this situation was one where the police could make a positive impact on your (step)child so that he doesn't develop a negative view of law enforcement down the road (while at the same time helping him know what boundaries he shouldn't cross with his behavior), then it wasn't a waste of the officers' time.

Kimble, that actually does make me feel a bit better about the whole thing. The officer who did most of the talking did impress me with how quickly he got little man on side and comfortable (especially from when they first turned up and he was heading for the roof). He was firm with his message but was good with a kid too. And in return he got my son's sideways "I know I'm supposed to be listening to you" look so he did well for himself...
My son does have a general positive curiosity towards cops/firemen/soldiers etc and I don't feel this interaction harmed that in the slightest (even without the lights and sirens), probably even increased it - my son was pretty agreeable with them by the time they left.
Maybe that curiosity is a bigger part of why he did it than I've considered... He asked the cops if they had a dog. If he calls again he'll probably request a K9 unit.