police in our village

[iconoclash]

Hi - I'm so annoyed: our local police are trying to arrest my son for damage on a building site - he is a pre-teen. We hear that a man who works there followed a group of boys around taking photos of them THE DAY AFTER they found this damage, and the local police have come to our house only, as they say they do not know the other boys in the photos, and tried to arrest him - have had to get a solicitor, I need to find out more about this but am not happy about the idea that anyone can take your picture and then name you - is this allowed?

[SOD'EM]

Well they certainly cannot charge him with criminal damage unless they have pictures of the act taking place or some sort of forensic proof. However, they can do something about tresspassing if (I presume it is) it is private property. Even then, he is a minor so not much will be done anyway. I would save your money on the solicitor and see what happens. They probably are just hoping that he names names and they can visit the other parents.

 

I would also advise your son not to go there again, or be led astray by other youths in the future. I find it strange that the police only recognised your son. It's as if they already know him????

[iconoclash]

Hi - yes they know him because there was an allegation made against him at school by a girl at school - to cut a long story short - the school investigated and the girl admitted it was false - the family then called the police who came to our home four times including on easter sunday and again tried to arrest him - a that time they had no information from the school investigations either so i wasnt happy - so the same pc has now come to our house over this latest issue - i do admit i feel like we are being targetted in some way - i have on ongoing dispute with the pub next door over getting beer cans and bottles thrown in my garden and noisy after hours crap from them - dont seem to be able to get any help with it so it is all getting too much for us now - i sometimes think that the regulars are making complaints against my son on purpose. I made an official complaint about that P.C. so do now need a solicitor to deal with this latest accusation. thanks.

[papasmurf1cx]

Hi Campari.... What exactly is the nature of the damage and the cost? How old is your son? There are higher standards of proof needed for very young children so it would be helpful to know the age. What exactly has the PC done that would justify you complaining ie is it more than the officer merely carrying out his duty to investigate allegations made by other members of the public?

[iconoclash]

Hi - he's 13, and the PC wouldnt get the info from the school before trying to arrest - in the end the school took it over and reinvestigated and again found it to be false. So I then made a complaint about the vigorous approach of the PC. I now find out that a few weeks later he told the site staff to take photos of him - this was in the street, not on their site and they are using this as evidence, and been doing it since June, my complaint was in May. The company for the building work also say they are going to carry on doing it. So presume I can follow them around taking their pictures too? The site staff say they saw him doing it but didnt take photos - which seems strange since they were so good at it the rest of the time?

[Surfer01]

I wonder how they would react if it was reported that it is suspected that your son is being stalked by a possible paedophile?

[dx100uk]

at the end of the the day there is only one person that knows the truth and thats your son.........

 

as for the photos, well, tbh its not nice, but, its doing its job & they are not breaking any laws by doing it,

 

i bet he's sticking well clear!! and has p'haps learned a few lessons here as has already been pointed out.

 

no kids are angels and they all do silly things that later they might well regret in life.

 

don't take what i am saying here wrong, but it might well do him a favor he is not yet realising.

 

best way to make him keep his nose clean from now on!

 

dx

[Surfer01]

On the moneysavingexpert site there appears to be a thread very similar to this running but as the dliemna of the week.