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Reporting your kid to the police for non-crimes will not have a positive outcome. Your kid will be on a list, never trust you again, and have to overcome so ma

Reporting your kid to the police for non-crimes will not have a positive outcome. Your kid will be on a list, never trust you again, and have to overcome so many more obstacles. Every generation of parents finds something that is "over their heads" and they need to deal with it like responsible adults. Know what your kid is interested in and not fear monger it. Deal with issues like an adult with educating yourself.

homonculus1 7y ago
Seconded. Police are not There To Help You. Police enforce the law. When in doubt of the law, they simply enforce. Don't ever tip someone off to the police unless you have a real reason to believe they have or will harm a person.
- tomatocracy 7y ago
  I don't know if you're in the UK, but this isn't true for most of our police, certainly outside the cities. If anything, this fact is something they're proud of. As an example, I called them once (using a non emergency number before anyone says anything) because I was worried about a vulnerable relative who I couldn't get hold of and they were great - went to his house and called back to say he was fine, just couldn't hear the phone over the TV.
  - keanzu 7y ago
    You didn't report a faux crime, you requested a welfare check. But even a wellness check can go exceedingly wrong in the US. "He said he called a non emergency number for a wellness check. Smith said minutes later he heard a gunshot." https://www.npr.org/2019/10/13/769891781/fort-worth-officer-kills-woman-in-her-bedroom-in-response-to-open-structure-call https://www.npr.org/2019/10/13/769891781/fort-worth-officer-...
    - rhn_mk1 7y ago
      The US is irrelevant to the situation in the article.
    - dragonsky 7y ago
      The US seems to have a very strange relationship with its police.
    - ben_w 7y ago
      The US and UK police are about as different from each other as it’s possible to be while still being police. For example, the UK police do not routinely carry firearms.
      - manigandham 7y ago
        On the other hand, the UK police is dangerously close to arresting people for thought crime: https://www.google.com/search?q=uk+police+thought+crime https://www.google.com/search?q=uk+police+thought+crime
- pgoggijr 7y ago
  I know this is the internet echo chamber, but the police in my community, and everywhere I have lived, provide a lot of outreach opportunities to under-educated and under-privileged (east coast, USA, for reference).
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - protomyth 7y ago
    I'm friends with police in a hard to police area, and they are good people. It really has nothing to do with the normal functioning of their community outreach or the individuals themselves. I find my friends are intelligent and care about folks. Its the system you put your kid into by calling the police on them. Police don't have choices in a lot cases and the system around them has a lot of rules that capture people in them for years.
- Angostura 7y ago
  Just to be clear - if you are in the UK the police are quite often there to help you.
pgoggijr 7y ago
This is what the cynic in me is worried about. As somebody who grew up with parents who had no idea what I was doing on the computer (no fault of their own, they just didn't have access to the tools I did growing up), I can see them being worried. Providing advice and materials is exactly what I would hope the police would provide to them (which is in-line with what this brochure says). I acknowledge that this brochure _might_ represent fear-mongering, but based on what's actually written in the brochure, it doesn't sound like the police are looking to put kids on a list.

homonculus1 7y ago

Seconded. Police are not There To Help You. Police enforce the law. When in doubt of the law, they simply enforce. Don't ever tip someone off to the police unless you have a real reason to believe they have or will harm a person.

tomatocracy 7y ago
I don't know if you're in the UK, but this isn't true for most of our police, certainly outside the cities. If anything, this fact is something they're proud of. As an example, I called them once (using a non emergency number before anyone says anything) because I was worried about a vulnerable relative who I couldn't get hold of and they were great - went to his house and called back to say he was fine, just couldn't hear the phone over the TV.
- keanzu 7y ago
  You didn't report a faux crime, you requested a welfare check. But even a wellness check can go exceedingly wrong in the US. "He said he called a non emergency number for a wellness check. Smith said minutes later he heard a gunshot." https://www.npr.org/2019/10/13/769891781/fort-worth-officer-kills-woman-in-her-bedroom-in-response-to-open-structure-call https://www.npr.org/2019/10/13/769891781/fort-worth-officer-...
  - rhn_mk1 7y ago
    The US is irrelevant to the situation in the article.
  - dragonsky 7y ago
    The US seems to have a very strange relationship with its police.
  - ben_w 7y ago
    The US and UK police are about as different from each other as it’s possible to be while still being police. For example, the UK police do not routinely carry firearms.
    - manigandham 7y ago
      On the other hand, the UK police is dangerously close to arresting people for thought crime: https://www.google.com/search?q=uk+police+thought+crime https://www.google.com/search?q=uk+police+thought+crime
pgoggijr 7y ago
I know this is the internet echo chamber, but the police in my community, and everywhere I have lived, provide a lot of outreach opportunities to under-educated and under-privileged (east coast, USA, for reference).
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- protomyth 7y ago
  I'm friends with police in a hard to police area, and they are good people. It really has nothing to do with the normal functioning of their community outreach or the individuals themselves. I find my friends are intelligent and care about folks. Its the system you put your kid into by calling the police on them. Police don't have choices in a lot cases and the system around them has a lot of rules that capture people in them for years.
Angostura 7y ago
Just to be clear - if you are in the UK the police are quite often there to help you.

pgoggijr 7y ago

This is what the cynic in me is worried about. As somebody who grew up with parents who had no idea what I was doing on the computer (no fault of their own, they just didn't have access to the tools I did growing up), I can see them being worried. Providing advice and materials is exactly what I would hope the police would provide to them (which is in-line with what this brochure says). I acknowledge that this brochure _might_ represent fear-mongering, but based on what's actually written in the brochure, it doesn't sound like the police are looking to put kids on a list.