Interrogating a 12 year old without a parent?

Question

Is that acceptable? Why or why not, please?

It was a police officer and the vice-principal of the elementary school. They kept him for a little under an hour and threatened him with life in jail, because a child said that my son said he was going to shoot a neighbor. Once they spoke with the third boy who was present for the conversation, they apologized to my son and let him go, warning him to keep it to himself. I was NEVER called. I only found out when my son got home from school, devastated and crying over what they had said and done.

No, my son didn't say that. No, he has no access to lethal weapons of ANY kind. He was terrified to go to school today.

To thedailybs's: My son did not say it. If you'd read the comments more carefully, you would see that they actually apologized to my son after speaking with child #3. They spoke with child #3 away from any other student, and he concurred with everything my son had told them about the conversation. This conversation happened a month ago, by the way.

Pronk
I am not a single mother. Where did you get that from?

Answer 1

First, I'm going to adress the long list of wrong answers already given. If you don't know the law and have training in it, DON'T GIVE LEGAL ADVICE. Never take legal advice from anyone who is not either: a lawyer, judge, police officer, or magistrate. And even then, it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion, since many laws are subject to interpretation. Okay, that's done, so I'll deal with your question.

Parents do NOT have a right to be present when the police are questioning their child. The parent has no rights in regards to the juvenile being questioned. It's not about the parent, it's about the juvenile. The juvenile has rights. The juvenile has a right to speak to their parent/guardian before questioning, but only if they ask for it. And if they ask, the officers have to make a "reasonable effort" to contact the parents. If they make a true effort, but cannot contact the parent, they did their due diligence. And they only have a right to speak to them, not have them present the whole time. The juvenile also has a right to a lawyer, but only if they ask for it. If the juvenile does not ask to talk to their parent and does not ask for their lawyer, that is the juvenile's decision. A juvenile can waive their rights just like an adult can.

And keep in mind that, the way your question sounds, your son was never arrested, so he would not have been read his rights. The officer did not have to read him his rights, because he was not under arrest. Your son still had his rights, the officer was just not required to remind him of them.

Those are the guidelines, so let me make sure I have the situation right. Some other student told a teacher or a school officer that your son claimed he was going to shoot a neighbor. At that point, the school and police pulled your son into the office to question him about it. He denied it, they told him that if he said it (or maybe said if he carried it out), he could go to jail for life. He gave them the name of another student who heard the original conversation this stemmed from. The officer talked to the other student, who backed up your son's side of things. The officer apologized to your son and told him "keep it to himself (?? to not tell ANYONE, including you, or just to not tell other students and friends??). Your son went back to class, finished the day, came home as normal, and told you.

I can't tell from your question whether or not you talked with the officer or the school after talking to your son. What did they say? With the exception of nobody even calling you afterwards to let you know what had gone on, which they should have done, this sounds pretty standard. If they hadn't talked to your son, they probably would never have gotten the name of the third child, who convinced them your son didn't do it. Would you rather they still be conducting a full felony investigation over several days, talking to all his friends/neighbors/teachers to find that other child, or have him cleared after just an hour? With the present environment of school violence, schools and police take tips like this one very seriously. Any other questions, feel free to send me a message through Y!Answers.

Answer 2

Well, the school did not have to call you. Only if he was arrested, you had to be in during interrogation. At which point you merely waive your Miranda rights, and ask for a lawyer. They STOP the crap immediately and let you both go.

But something similar happened to my child, and since that moment I am infuriated at the display of force and abuse of authority from cops.

Do what I did (and cops won't be happy about it): File a grievance and request a formal inquiry. The cop that messed with my 13 yr old child in a similar situation ended up tackling him to the floor and handcuffing him, as he was taken to in-school suspension just because the cop called him "useless", and my son got mouthy and replied :"you are!". With every right in the world, without disrupting a class, or an event, protected by the First Ammendment, and with the same right to insult the cop right back. Besides, he was the adult and should have de-escalated the problem, not turned it worse. But Porky was just having a slow day and needed a little adrenalin and show of force.

So, you ask for a grievance form, swear it, turn it in (always get a receipt), and wait for Internal Affairs to say it has no basis. Then, you take your concern to the mayor, the legislators, the Board of Education, and even the commissioner of education in your state. If anything, you'll be victorious because you made everyone aware of the action, got the names in the right mouths, the board and commissioner don't want the school to bring on a public mess that will humilliate the district, and the pig gets the complaint in his personnel file.

Good luck

Answer 3

The problem is 12 year olds say alot, whether it's to be "cool" among their friends in school, etc. Most states, a 12 year old can be convicted of a crime as an adult, although the parents do need to be notified.

Without having never met your child, I think he's a liar. Maybe he didn't mean the comments he said, either way, you can reject it or believe him. Those words came out somewhere.

I doubt very much that this other child is lying.

Instead of worrying about the police and trying to look at "rights", talk with your child, cause from the sounds of things he's screwed up as it is and yet you believe him. What next? You're going to sue the district, while your son laughs over his immature suggestion of murder?

Answer 4

unlike what most people think, police don't have to have the parents present when children are questioned.

And esp not if a school official is present at the time.
School officials by thier authority have position of responsiblity over the child.

But normally the police question kids all the times, kids skateboarding in the park, kids spray paiting something,
and so on.

So yes it is done every day, 100's of time a day.

They should have discussed this with all the witnesses but in todays enviorment any comment about a young person shooting someone, it gets high attention level in our schools.

Answer 5

If your account is accurate this sounds like malfeasance and child abuse with attempt to hide the facts.

School officials cannot intimidate or threaten children thusly even with the assistance of the police and they are required to have their facts straight beforehand. False accusations are cause for action. The FIRST thing they should have done is call you and allow your presence while the child is being questioned.

Apology notwithstanding this appears like breach of trust and should be pursued from a legal standpoint. Admonishing a child to 'say nothing' indicates there is something being hidden.

Coercive tactics that include threats are a big reason public education is in such decline. I think that such behavior on the part of school officials is quite beyond reprehensible and support of this activity by law enforcement is even worse.

Make sure your facts are straight and get a written overview of the events as related by the child while they're fresh in his mind.

I in my humble opinion you should seek full disclosure of these events, involve the media and punitive damages are in order.

Just be certain you have the story correct from the child's viewpoint before you act. If those involved admit to what the child claims happened it sounds pretty bad for them.

Answer 6

The school and the police broke the law by questioning the child without notifying a parent. They compounded the problem by threatening the child. I would follow up on this asap. Consult an attorney. You may even be able to get legal assistance for free through a local legal aid society or the ACLU. If you call or speak to the principal or the school superintendant, be sure to bring a witness, but better to have an attorney have this conversation.

Answer 7

many times No No because of the fact no count if it quite is a juvenile charged with against the regulation they have no concept of what there criminal rights are. Miranda Rights. sure because of the fact it ought to have a existence or death call that needs to be acted upon on the instant. ok now that I see your extra comments. sure I help that. They have been attempting to be certain a pair of a threat taking photographs. Please undergo in innovations Columbine, and all the different college shootings... Now i don't consider teh entire you will detention center for existence ingredient. that's BS yet nevertheless a mojority of interogation is a lie. yet for a 12 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous that's slightly too plenty.

Answer 8

Well.....since you didn't mention in what STATE this happend......I'm going off on a limb here. In Texas the age of culpability is 10. which means that if an 11 year old commits a crime, he can be charge for such. Although if he is going to be Question ABOUT the crime his 5th Ammendment rights cannot be violated, UNLESS the child refuses a lawyer present.

Answer 9

So did your son not say he was going to shoot the neighbor, according to the third boy?

I would believe that a threat to shoot should warrant an immediate investigation and questioning without a parent present. The content of that investigation and questioning should be without coercion, however.

Answer 10

Thats total crap. You should go to the school board. You don't live in N.E. Ct, do you? Sounds like it!
They should have called you right away. Make sure you get yourself a lawyer. Your son is going to be hurt, scared, and god knows what because of this. He shouldn't have had to go through that without you. He shouldn't have had to go through being told he could spend life in jail, either. What the **** is wrong with people?!
I wish you and your son the best.
You really should do something about this situation.