Can one report suspected child abuse with just a license plate number?

[bertha katzenengel]

Seen on the way out of Safeway: a woman with four children. Carrying a girl under her arm like a sack of potatoes. Yelling at two boys to come on. Dragging the other girl by the elbow - the girl crying, getting loose any chance she had, so she could hang back. She sat down every time, even in the middle of the parking lot. As I walked by, the woman was dumping the children into the car. The elbow girl got away again and walked behind some other cars. The girl and I were walking parallel. She stopped. I stopped.

I said, "Are you scared of her? Does she scare you, baby?" She nodded. I said, "tell someone, okay? It's okay, baby, tell someone."

It's all I could do. :cry:

[datasuspect]

1. did you see the woman actually strike the child?

everyone calls 911 for pretty much anything nowadays.

quick trip to the system for those kids.

she might be beating them.

she might just be a harried mother with a handful of kids.

tough call.

i wouldn't snitch unless it was patently obvious that she was being excessively violent with the kids.

"excessively violent" doesn't include a swat on the behind.

[bertha katzenengel]

2. No. I saw an intense level of emotional abuse.

Christ, I hate this.

[datasuspect]

3. emotional abuse is highly subjective

i don't think the police would intervene unless there was actual physical abuse.

you could call DCFS or CPS or whatever the child protective service in your area is called.

still, putting kids in the system can cause more problems than it solves.

be aware too, that cops hate to be bothered with what they might consider "busybody" activity (especially where it concerns a perceived emotional abuse allegation).

they may or may not be receptive unless an actual crime happened.

[Momgonepostal]

4. Well, it's tough to say, but as the mother of 2...

who have sometimes acted up at the store or other public places, I would be mortified if a stranger called CPS, because s/he thought I was abusing them. I wouldn't say it has been a regular occurance, but I've had to carry crying children out of stores, hold them so they wouldn't run away, even though they were trying too, all because they pitched a fit because I wouldn't buy them whatever doo-dad they wanted, or said we had to leave earlier than they wanted, or had to go straight home, or even just because they were tired. I'm not an abusive parent, but my kids have been scared when I break out the "Serious Mom" voice.

I'd say MYOB unless you are seeing actual, physical abuse.

[Bunny]

5. Bertha this is a tough call.

Four kids and doing the grocery shopping could make an otherwise reasonable person a little goofy. I've been in the position of having cranky kids in public and, when you yourself are cranky,tired, and feeling beat down it's very easy to over-react to the normal irritations that kids can cause.

Unless you saw actual hitting, or perhaps bruises or marks on those kids, I'd be inclined to stay out. It probably couldn't hurt to call your Child Welfare hotline and make an anonymous general inquiry as to whether the behavior constituted abuse by their definition.

[undeterred]

6. I called the police with a lot more information than that

and it didn't result in much. The kids were in my neigborhood, and I had been inside the home. Low income family, low education- the kids had no beds. They slept on boxes on the floor. Mom got drunk a lot.

One day the 7 year old girl told me that mom's bf had unzipped his pants in front of her face. I didn't hear actual sexual abuse but I figured that was close enough. First I called a social worker friend who told me that I should call in my concern, but remember that there would only be an intervention if they really thought a child was in immediate danger of physical harm.

I called and talked to someone for about 15 minutes. Apparently they did talk to the whole family, and mom told the children never to talk to me again. I may have been the only one outside the home they trusted.

2 years later the Hazmat team came to their home and closed down a meth lab. All the kids were put in foster care and I haven't seen them since. I had NO idea that was going on- apparently the kids were selling meth at school to make money for the family.

Its frustrating but there are a lot of chaotic homes out there and its impossible to tell from the outside exactly whats going on.

[acmavm]

8. Not the same thing.

[William Bloode]

13. Maybe you should remove the low income, low education part.

Makes it look like all of us under paid, under educated people abuse their kids, or that we are the only ones capable. People with high incomes and higher education abuse their kids just as much as us dumb peasants.

[undeterred]

16. Well, I certainly didn't say or imply that.

This person dropped out of high school at 15 to have her first child and had 3 by the time she was 20- and that made it pretty hard for her to find a job where she could support 3 young children. Eventually she started having her children sell drugs.

I couldn't figure out why her children did not have beds- it seemed like it would be so easy to find some via donation, but she didn't want me to. So, there were lots of problems, and I tried to be a helpful neighbor- and it was very hard to know how to get involved in this kind of a situation.

Kids not having beds bothered me- it seems like no child in America should have to sleep on the floor every night.

[William Bloode]

19. But you need not add the low income, low education part.

You add that and it implies it on it's own, whether or not you intended it. You could have made you point, and not even mentioned it. Kinda like if my friend T-bone comes over, and i say it like my "black" friend T-bone. It insinuates that i am trying to interject his color into the statement to prove i am not racist.

I'm sure you did not mean it that way, and i admire your compassion and caring. Also in the situation you described i feel you did the right thing.

[acmavm]

7. One woman trying to herd a bunch of kids to a car after going to

the store shoppping and she's having a hard time getting them into the car and you suspect child abuse????????

Kids act up in the store and get in trouble. Kids do that all the time. Mine did. My grandkids did. Kids I see every damn day in the store do. And they get their asses yelled at. And one kid held back? So you ask if the woman, very possibly her mother, scares her? Did you see what happened on the rest of the excursion? Did you see if the kids were dealing the woman, most possibly their mother, a fit? Did you see anything except the crap that you made up in your head?

This shit just fries me. I've known two people who got in trouble because of meddlers that didn't have a damn clue as to what the truth of a situation was. 1.) My brothers step kid was screwing around one morning, wouldn't get ready for school, didn't have the time to finish his breakfast, told the teacher he didn't get fed that day. By 10:00 a.m. the welfare people were going through her cupboards and refrigerator and then proceeded to snoop through he whole house because the teacher didn't have the brains, the class, or the ability to realize her own limitations at mind reading to ask Candy what happened first. 2.) A woman who's kid was a thorough terror and would not mind (mainly because the Dad's mother told the kid he 'didn't have to take shit off of anyone') was screwing around, in A PARKING LOT, took off running, almost got hit, and his Mom had to chase him down and practically restrain him. The damn kid had to be pulled back to the car, and a know-it-all stranger started to make shit up in their head and called the police on their cell phone. Didn't aks the Mom what was going on, didn't have the faintest clue as to what had let up to the chase down, actually had no clue whatsoever. But did have a handy dandy cell phone. And the cops came. A police report was made. She got involved with the child welfare people too.

You heard no screaming for help. You saw no brutality. What's the best thing you got? The woman was 'carrying the kid like a sack of potatoes'? Oh, there's real child abuse.

"Does the woman scare you baby?" There's an invitation for a kid to stir up some shit. And a majority of the kids would say yes, especially if they've been acting up. A parent damn well better intimidate their kid. Not scare to death, but there needs to be a healthy respect for the consequences that a child can find themselves receiving when they deal their parents a fit or not be cooperative.

People kill me. They bitch about people's kids not behaving. The complain about kids in restaurants (that's an argument that occurred here on DU.) They talk about how they're out of control, don't listen in school, get all outraged when they do HORRIBLE things like last summers spate of murders of homeless people by teenagers. But then want to have the police come and drag the parents by the hair to a jail cell when they are trying to raise their kids, to teach them. And apparently get them into the car.

Go ahead. Call the police. But leave you name, address, and phone number so that the parent can sue you like you would so well deserve in the event it's just a frazzled parent trying to wrestle her kids into the car after a trip to the store. I'm serious. You think you got a case, go for it. But leave some identification so that if all you've done is cause some poor woman a bunch of trouble for nothing, then you take the conseqences of your actions.

[LaurenG]

10. Humm I think your response is a bit over the top.

All she asked was if anything could or should be done and you decided to give her a big, giant, mean, hateful lecture.

[acmavm]

11. She damn well needed one. One person, equipped with a cell

phone and absolutely no idea of what was really going on can cause a hell of a lot of trouble for people who don't deserve it.

I told her to go for it, didn't I? I also said to leave contact info in the event she making trouble for someone who didn't have it coming. Just like the two people I know. Who had to jump through hoops and home inspections and answer endless questions and have a worker assigned to 'monitor' them.

No, it wasn't a mean, hateful lecture. It's just what happens in the real world when people who have no clue get people into trouble.

[Kajsa]

14. I guess it's so much better to just

STFU and let the chips fall where they may.

The kids be damned!

" No clue- busybody"? WTH?!?
Who are you to judge her?

Bertha does not deserved that abuse from you.

She friggin cares in a world where a lot of people don't.

[acmavm]

23. Whatever. There was no abuse here. Just the straight honest

truth. Don't like it? Complain to someone who cares.

[Kajsa]

24. You are a real charmer,

I'll give you that.

[Kerrytravelers]

33. How do you know?

The worst she could be is wrong.

The police stop by, talk to the mom, see what's going on for themselves. If they have any reason to think there is abuse, then they will take the next step. If not, then that is the end of it.

I work with kids, many of whom have been severely abused. I've had more than one eight year old who was the victim of a rape- sometimes multiple rapes.

Some of my children have been saved by that one stranger who noticed that something just seemed off- not right about the situation.

I don't know because I wasn't there. I can only be objective. And I also know that feeling. ANd I know what it's like to have others doubt me, but I'm glad I called anyway. It made a difference to the kid.

[acmavm]

36. You tell me what she saw here that screams 'abuse'. And you

bet she could be wrong. She already is. There was no abuse here. There was probably an overwhelmed woman trying to get four kids into a car, groceries or no groceries. And she's admitted she doesn't know what occurred up to the point she decided that the situation needed a good dose of academy award winning drama.

But like I said, call. Leave that name and address so that if things get so far as a courtroom she can go in and testify to what a horrific scene whe witnessed here.

[Kerrytravelers]

38. I don't know because I wasn't there.

It's something that she will have to think about and decide for herself.

If things get to the point of a courtroom, she won't be the only witnessed called. There will have to be other signs of abuse. In all the calls I've made, and all the kids over the years I've seen taken from their parents, I've never once been called to testify.

I don't necessarily think it was abuse, I simply have no way of knowing one way or the other because I was not there.

[acmavm]

44. There's one more damn thing that I haven't mentioned here that

I should. And that is that there is a stigma attached to being investigated for child abuse. AND RECORDS ARE KEPT. And any record of even just being investigated weighs against a person if anything should ever come up. You see this shit every day. We saw a boatload of it during the elections. Any little incident in one's life that brings them in contact with any officials, police, child support enforcement, welfare, divorce court, whatever, is public record and it stays that way forever.

Many times the records just state that no evidence was found 'at that time' of this or that. That's not a clearing of one's name, just that there was not evidence of any abuse or whatever found at that time. That leaves a cloud haning over the reputation of that person and a record than can be drug out and used against them by any unscrupulous asshole.

Or I'll give you one. When I was a kid my Mom had 'tuberculosis'. (Not really, she was misdiagnosed. She spent a year and a half in a sanitorium in Kearney Nebraska.) My brothers and sisters were put into state homes and Boys Town. The youger ones were adopted out, without my Mom's permission. How? Because and old hag named Ms. Furey and a nosey neighbor named Georgia Kramer testified that my mom was a bad mother. And the juvenile court judge, Seward L. Hart, (who was later thrown off the court for corruption), signed papers allowing them to be adopted out because the 'court' and the witnesses said my Mom had 'abandoned' us. The fucking state of Nebraska had committed her to a sanitorium, but the records, to this FUCKING DAY say that she abandoned us.

So do not lecture me on 'all that she might be is wrong'. Because that is not the case. Not at all. And any damn fool can walk up to a kid and get her to say she's scared. If the kid had done something wrong, and if she was in trouble, she probably was. But nothing here, except this posters desperate need to cause someone some serious trouble, screams abuse.

[Kerrytravelers]

59. No one is lecturing you.

Some of us have just had different experiences. If I came across as angry, I assure you, that was not my intention.

It seems you've had a lot of history in this area. My opinion, and take it for what it's worth, but to have put all your history and knowledge into one post could have been very helpful to the OP. I realize this brings up a lot of hurt and anger from the past, but none of us knew that, or at least I didn't. I'm not sure the OP did, either.

In the end, it is up to the OP to really think about it and in her heart and in her consciousness, she must do the very best she can to make a decision that she can live with.

That is all. I have no intention to have an angry dialog, as that was not my intention and I can see it is bringing up a lot of pain for you. And that, I am very sorry for.

Peace to you,

kt

[acmavm]

62. No, it was a loooonnnnng time ago and the 'pain' isn't the issue.

It's what people, good intentions or just plain drama queens, can do when they don't have any damn idea of what was going on. In my case, these two old women caused trouble for many people. But the trouble was serious. In fact, in our case, it was permanent separation until we were grown. But that's not the case here.

This is just a case of someone with no clue about was was going on witnessing nothing, but wanting to make a phone call and stir up a bunch of trouble for some woman she doesn't even know. She saw no abuse, no kids crying, but she walked up to a child, rather than having the guts to go up to the parent or whoever, and asked a stupid question. If she really wanted to check the situation out she should have had the guts to go up to the woman and ask what was going on. Or if she was really that damn concerned, ask if maybe she needed a little help. If she wanted to know what was going on, go to the ADULT. Not sneakily question a little kid.

Nope, right away she's got the old abuse scenario built up in the brain and visions of calling the police. And then comes here and wants validation for that action. And some people here feel just fine with calling the law on someone for no reason except someone's ability to 'sense' abuse. Because she 'WAS THERE'.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bertha katzenengel]

21. I grew up in the real world.

Read this:

You. Are. Assuming. A. Great. Deal.

If that doesn't make you see that you don't understand what I saw, you don't have a clue.

[acmavm]

22. YOU are the one who is assuming a great deal. You say NO

ABUSE. You saw nothing that even indicated abuse.

People who make reports based on their overactive imaginations are horrible. I did my internship with the ACLU for my paralegal degree and one of my big chores what to advise people what agencies they could go to for help with they got into problems with government agencies based on 1) information from anonymous phone callers; 2) disgruntled spouses; and 3) disgruntled in laws. To this day I don't know who caused the most damage.

[bertha katzenengel]

25. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were a paralegal.

My mistake.

[acmavm]

29. That was just by way of an explanation as to why I'm familiar

with the damage and trouble people who don't know what they're talking about can cause.

[bertha katzenengel]

39. Heh . . . no, "oh you're a paralegal" -- that was sarcasm.

You assume I don't know what I'm talking about, just from a few words on a web page.

Good for you.

Oh -- that's sarcasm, too.

Bye.

[acmavm]

46. I'm not impressed by your sarcasm. Unless you have your cell

phone ready and are about to call the sarcasm abuse hotline.

[huskerlaw]

45. Oooh, a paralegal

I'm sorry. Big fucking deal.

I'm an attorney. I interned at the ACLU when I was in law school...and that doesn't make me qualified to know what Bertha did or did not see.

My god, you took a jackass pill today.

[acmavm]

47. No, I know a Gladys Kravitz when I see one.

[huskerlaw]

50. Except that YOU DIDN'T SEE IT

:eyes:

[acmavm]

51. I was referring to the OP. And as for seeing anything, from her

post there was nothing to see. Nothing at all.

[huskerlaw]

52. Bill Frist, is that you?

Cuz really, it sounds like you're so good at divining a situation you didn't witness that you could also diagnose something from a video...

[acmavm]

54. Now that was stupid.

[huskerlaw]

56. Great comeback.

Actually, I think it was pretty spot on.

[acmavm]

57. Do you? It's been used so many times here when people have

needed a quick and lame response. Like just now.

[huskerlaw]

58. It's used when

people think they can divine the truth in a situation they know abso-fucking-lutely nothing about.

Like just now.

[Maddy McCall]

53. And from what was described in the OP, neither did Bertha....

What she described was NOT abuse.

If she just wanted to know if she could report child abuse from a license plate, then she could have just asked that, and she could have received answers.

But she posted the "whole story," so that says that she wants people to opine on whether or not it was child abuse, before she makes the call.

From what was described, it's not child abuse. Not in my opinion, which it appears the OP wanted, or she wouldn't have posted all of those details.

[huskerlaw]

55. I probably agree, Maddy

I would lean towards it not being abuse either. But that doesn't excuse this poster's verbal attack on Bertha, nor their assertion that they KNOW what happened.

They don't know whether it was or not as an absolute fact. And neither do you. Bertha did not assert that she knew that it was abuse, that's why she was asking what she should do, if anything. You'll notice the post was not "I witnessed abuse and then called the cops," she was asking for advice.

She did not deserve to have people screaming NO IT'S NOT YOU STUPID BITCH back at her.

[Reciprocity]

60. And some of us know flame bait when we read it.

[bertha katzenengel]

20. You are assuming a great deal.

You weren't there. Moreover, your response is borderline attack.

I was NOT bitching about children misbehaving.

I DID, in fact, witness brutality. If you were about three years old, would you like to be dragged - literally dragged - across the asphalt by one arm?

Yes, I guess a three-year-old would be inclined to start a bunch of shit. :eyes:

By the way, no groceries were involved. I just saw this from the door inside the store to the parking lot. I have no idea what went on inside the store.

I saw serious emotional abuse. That little girl was terrified of her mother.

Back up off of me. You have assumed a great deal. You go right on ahead and be fried, sweetheart.

Jesus Christ.

[acmavm]

28. Oh from the extensive interview you had with the child you could

tell that she was 'terrified' of her mother?

And as you said, you don't know what happened before you witnessed this horrendous child abuse. Emotional abuse, that is.

As I posted in this thread in another place, I've had to refer people to agencies that could help them after people who had absolutely no idea of what the facts were and what was going on decided to create some drama and make up some 'child abuse' where none existed.

It would never occur to those people that maybe they were the ones who were being abusive.

[Kerrytravelers]

31. You can't get sued for reporting suspected abuse to the police.

They aren't going to release the name of the reporter.

[acmavm]

35. That's true. That's also probably the very reason so many

people don't feel so safe making calls to the police without any proof of anything happening.

But a person has a right to confront the accuser if and when things go into a court of law, and that person can be called to come forward as a witness. So leave that name and address.

[Kerrytravelers]

40. Yes, one has the right to meet their accuser.

I've reported so many cases over the years. I've taught many students over the years who have been taken from the home. And, luckily for me, I've never had to testify. Making the call is gut wrenching enough because I always worry that I might be wrong. And, over the years, I've been right and I have been wrong. I always feel guilty when I have been wrong, even when I know that the police will not bother the family any further. But when I'm right, I'm always glad I made the call.

[nini]

61. You made a lot of excellent points

it's too bad your anger was what everyone saw instead of the message.


I think Bertha was sad to see what happened and needed to talk about it. She has a soft heart and felt bad for those kids. The fact she asked showed her uncertainty. If you had come at her with all the points you made in a constructive approach she would hear you. Instead you attacked. Too bad because you have valid points.

What a shame.

[joneschick]

9. that's a really tough call Bertha

years back, before we had cell phones, I witnessed a women almost literally drop kicking a kid through the parking lot at Target. She was kicking the kid ahead of her and screaming horrible things at him. I thought it best not to try a direct intervention for fear of making it worse. I grabbed a store security guy who refused to to anything. I took down the vehicle plates and called police when I got home. It still haunts me. You do what you can. :hug: You're a good, kind person trust your judgement.

[William Bloode]

12. You can do nothing.

You didn't see anything so you have nothing to report. With four kids how do you know the lady was not having just a bad day? You have no inkling as to underlying circumstances. You may in fact cause more stress and harm to the family than what you hope to fix.

I have never hit one of my kids, but if they were in trouble and knew it, and you asked them if they were scared of me, the answer would be yes.

[Kajsa]

15. It is a tough call, Bertha.

I would be concerned, too.

The problem is, you're not sure the kids are in real danger.
That's one big one.

But don't you let anyone tell you that you're a "busybody".
Fu*k that!!

To quote one of my favorite posters, WallDude, " You hear me, Fu*k that!"

God Bless you for caring.
A lot of people wouldn't want to "get involved."

[bertha katzenengel]

32. Jesus Christ. I don't see how anyone could NOT care!

Or even not NOTICE. Would you want to be treated that way? What happened to patience? God, I know how frazzled mothers can get. I understand that. I've seen it. I've felt a tiny bit of it while babysitting my sisters' kids. But what I saw today - frazzled does not justify it.

[Kajsa]

63. Bertha, yesterday I left a note on a car's windshield.

I spotted the car with the engine running, in a parking spot
with a large dog barking frantically in the backseat.

Why did I leave the note?
Besides the engine going, locked doors and no human in
sight, the windows were cranked up all the way- no air for the dog.

Who knows how long it was there.
And where in the hell were the humans?

So, I went back to the store, let the manager know-
they PAed the info into the store "attention-will the owner of--"
and vowed to keep on eye on the dog.

When I came out, a young girl ran into the car, laid a patch
in the parking lot and tore out like a bat out of hell!
No, she wasn't a robber-she was nuts.

Oh, yeah- she had a huge BUSH-CHENEY-2004 sticker on the back of her car.

I can't make this stuff up!

[bertha katzenengel]

66. I've done that several times when children were left in cars.

I saw two kids, the oldest maybe eight, in a car several years ago. Windows were all down. Maybe for air, I don't know. But I wrote a note and handed it to the oldest child and said, "give this to your mom or dad when they come back."

I wrote, "As easily as I handed this note to your child, someone could have taken him away."

I wonder if I'm too soft-hearted. After all, other people's kids are not my responsibility. Maybe today I should've said to that three-year-old, "go back with your mom before you get hit by a car, you little snot."

[Maddy McCall]

17. NO.

It would be stupid to call the CPS, considering the evidence you've given here.

And you really shouldn't have spoken to that little girl.

Unless you've been a parent, you can't know what bad days are like.

[bigwillq]

18. I wouldn't get involved.

I know your intent was to help this child but frankly I think it's none of your business.

Unless you actually saw the child get hit, you may not know the whole story.
Children can be a pain in the ass sometimes, although they don't deserve to be hit except for little taps on the hands or butt. I was hit like that and I turned out fine.

My advice would be to stay out of it.

[Kali]

26. You can see by some of the responses here that you will have to be very clear

about your interpretation of the incident. CPS likely will be even more resistant to vague descriptions of a yelling mom with 4 kids at the grocery store.

You WERE there and so you have to go with your judgment, but just reading it, and having been a mom with tired kids in a grocery store before, it is easy for me to excuse it as one of those "forget it we are going home right now" moments.

And yes if my kids were acting up and I was hauling their bratty asses to the car, they would have said they were scared too. But scared of what? Mom being pissed and them not getting whatever they were whining about back in the store or scared of getting an unreasonable beating or something - hard to tell when a kid answers that question.

[Blue Diadem]

27. Sounds like she needed to carry the 3 yr old like a sack of potatoes too.

If that's the little girl that was getting away and sitting in the parking lot, I sure would have if she'd been my kid. I had 3 kids in 5 yrs, so I was one of those seen carrying a little one tucked under my arm..kinda sideways. I was advised to do that by a pediatrician for safe carrying of a child having a temper tantrum. It prevents them from kicking. Heck..I had to do that with my granddaughter when she was 5 and had a fit when it was time to leave Chuckie cheese.

Bertha..I think you must have heard more than you're telling us. From your description, it sounds to me like a frazzled Mom who probably had all she could handle and was taking the kids to the car.

I'm just glad the little girl didn't get hit by a car while getting away from her Mom.

edited because someday I'll learn to use spell check before I post. :)

[Reciprocity]

30. Wow your caring about a child has sure stirred up a hornets nest.

So I guess unless your a parent you are not qualified to know what abuse is. I 'll have to remember this thread if I'm in a similar situation.

[philosophie_en_rose]

34. Call CPS or law enforcement. It's their job to investigate, not yours.

This situation is complex. However, law enforcement can do a "wellness check" on someone - just to see that they're okay. And CPS can do a brief check on the kids as well.

For all you know, the kids were just acting up and the mom had a bad day. But, also for all you know, the children are in trouble and need help. Hell, the mom might need some support services too.

My advice to you is to take this burden off of your shoulders. Make the report and let the system do its job.

[Kajsa]

64. That's a great idea, Philosophie.

A wellness check would reveal whether there is a problem or not.

That's very sound advice.

[philosophie_en_rose]

67. Thanks. It seems pretty obvious to me. A referral is not a conviction.

If I see a driver drive erratically, it's not my job to do a breathalyzer. That's law enforcement's job. Similarly, if I see a child in possible danger, I don't have to do a physical exam to suggest an investigation.

To be perfectly honest, I'm almost entirely certain that CPS would simply take the call (as I understand it) as an "information-only" request. If they get enough of those, they send a worker out. I don't know what "dragging" means though. That could be bad enough to warrant further steps.

Now I've only been through law school, so I don't have the knowledge of some. But I'm very clear on the process of child abuse investigations.

[Kali]

37. You know, in answer to your actual question...

yes you can report the incident using the liscense plate. If that is all you know, that is better than nothing.

[auntAgonist]

41. My friend :

you KNOW what you SAW and HEARD. Follow your heart and brain. A license plate is enough.

Would that everyone cared as much as you.
:hug:

aA

[ScreamingMeemie]

42. Please think carefully about this... I had CPS on my doorstep

because somebody "thought" they saw something. What that something was was MrG walking WannaB home after she had caused quite a bit of trouble. Luckily, there was nothing for them to investigate. But, as a parent, I've done things I'm not proud of...said things I shouldn't have. But that doesn't make me a bad mother.

At three, if it got her sympathy, WannaB would have said she was afraid of me.

:(

[Maddy McCall]

48. And it sure as hell wasn't child abuse.

Like I said in my post, all parents have had bad days.

You have. I have.

:hug:

[huskerlaw]

49. Bertha,

I don't really know what to tell you except that given what you've described, I doubt a phone call would do much good. It's a situation that could be explained either way. Could have been abuse, could have been a mother having a *really* bad day. Given what you described, which is all the police would have to go on, it's a tough call.

I will say that I'm sorry you became the object of some verbal abuse in this thread. I don't get people who think they know more about a situation than the person who witnessed it.

:hug:

[Reciprocity]

65. I’m curious about something...

If you saw a teacher do this at school, would you still feel the same way?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

68. Locking

This has turned into a flamefest.


CaliforniaPeggy
DU Moderator