Should my sister call the police?

Question

Ths afternoon, my sister took her two sons, ages 7 and 8, and her daughter, 1, to the school which is adjacent to her back yard so the boys could play basketball. while they were playing, my sister was chasing the baby as she toddled around. at some point, a middle aged man drove up and started playing basketball with my nephews instead of on the other court. my sister noticed almost immediately that he ws there. as she approached the basketball court she could hear that he was asking them a lot of questions like their names, ages, if they were brothers, etc. he was also calling them by name and complementing their basketball playing. when he saw her approaching, he asked if she was their sister. (trying to flatter her maybe?) she told them it was time to go home and he said something along the lines of "aww, cmon mom let them stay and play". she got his license plate. her husband is away this week and she's not sure if he saw where their house was when they went home.

i understand that this man didnt commit a crime by playing basketball, but it was still weird. i feel she should call just in case. maybe other parents in the neighborhood have noticed him before being even stranger than this and its something the neghborhood watch can look out for. i am not a man hater or radical feminist by any means, but i just think no harm can be done by the information being passed along. isn't community involvement and awareness the best way to PREVENT crime? i'm not saying we should get all patriot act on a guy paing basketball and violate any civil liberties, but what i told her is just put it in the hands of those who's duty it is to decide if anything else should be done or not. if they think she's being paranoid then fine, at least she told them. i just feel it's their call what to do with the info, but they can't do anything if they don't know. if its not worth pursuing, let the professionals decide that. that's one of the reasons she pays high taxes.

Answer 1

Hi

Prevention is better than cure - Yes I would report - and for all you semi-normal males out there, it is not being feminist etc, but taking care of your children. Unfortunately, paedophiles come in many guiese and as parents it is our responsibility to ensure that our children are looked after and cared for.

Not to get too personal but I am sure some of you commented upon the disappearance of Madeliene McCann criticising the parents for not caring for her but what if this unknown male approaches another child and they go missing - you will only be too quick to jump up and start sounding off then, saying that parents should pay more attention to what is going on and things like this should be reported! So pipe down and just put yourself in her shoes.

Yes I would phone the police as there are really some very weird people out and about and unfortunately that is the society we live in.

Men should not feel offended by a mothers natural response to protect and nurture children, as they were children once too and relied upon their mothers love and care.

KR

L

Answer 2

I am not saying guilty before proven innocent or a crime has been committed but there is no smoke without fire. Your a parent protecting your kids you have a right to this, end of. Although do think the police will do nothing in the matter all they can do is check the guy out to see if he has any previous criminal activity as a form of investigation. I understand what you might be getting at & yes you are correct to have judgement come on that is rather strange? Personally I wouldn't worry about it but would 100% make sure your there at all times when the kids are playing basketball hopefully the guy may never be seen again & his actions were sincere. At the end of the day fear has been felt, so stay away trust your instinct & don't open yourself up to be a victim.

Answer 3

In Louisville, Ky there was a 4 year old who was murdered while wandering away from his parents. Unfortunately, kids aren't safe anymore no matter where they play. The highest incidence of child molestation and rape is someone the person knows. Pedophiles prowl and look for available victims and attempt to make friends. Who knows this person can watch and down the road because the child thinks this is a friend get in a car and the child is found dead. You should have the police notified of the information. They should run the license plate at least and it may or may not come back to a sexual offender. It's better to be safe than sorry these days.

Answer 4

I can see what you're saying, but, on the flip side.. Some men just like kids.. in the non pedophilic way.. If it'd been a women would she even have bothered getting the licence??

I think this really is only a call your sister can make, she saw his behavior first hand, to me it sounds like its really just a guy who, maybe has sons and just wanted to be friendly... But there is the other side, that I dont need to say... Its so sad the way the world is, that we cant trust strangers anymore, there was a time we'd just think it was sweet he did that, I guess, all being said... No harm will come from doing it if he's innocent... If hes not, then you may prevent something awful happening...

This is a reall mind bender!!

Answer 5

Call the police! Thats what police are for. The officers can ake the report and put the information into the system Eventually it may help solve a crime later on. If the licese plate is ABC123, and at a later crime a witness gets C123 with a 6'0 blond man at a kidnaping of young boys...then low and behold they already know who it may be!

Thats why cops do reports...the information may not get used right away, but it will someday.

Answer 6

My immediate question as I read this was what was an unaccompanied middle-aged man doing on school grounds anyway, and then befriending two young boys? Report this to the police and give them all the details,,including the fact that nothing untoward happened. They will be able to background-check the VRN and link it to the registered owner of the car. If he's known to them they'll have procedures in place to take appropriate action. If he isn't, then the very least I would expect them to do is ask him the same question that I came up with.

Answer 7

It wouldn't hurt to call but honestly I doubt they could take action since he didn't really "do" anything. But for piece of mind she should make the call, but I would also tell her to right down a description while it's still fresh in her mind, the make color and plates of the car and what he was asking the kids. He may have been ok but your sister doesn't know it and if that man had any common since he would have never approached them regardless of his intentions.

p.s. steven c brought up a good point...could be a repeat offender who didnt get the chance to strike. The more I think abut it the more I think calling police just in case would be a good option....better safe than sorry.

Answer 8

The male has committed no apparant offences.

However, as a parent you are right to be suspicious of the male. You only have to read some of the sick crimes that are committed on children to never trust a stranger again. Unfortunately this is the society we live in. This is not our fault but that of the sick individuals who are out there.

It will not hurt to contact the police and pass on your suspicions. They will be able to do checks against his licence plate to identify who the male is and whether he is known to them as a sex offender. If he is then the police will now be aware he is prowling in the area. If he isn't then you have not lost anything.

Answer 9

Now days you can never be too careful. This is how bad things start and it is always with someone that you would least expect it. This has nothing to do with being a man hater as the top one referred to, it has only to do with being safe rather than sorry. You can never judge a book by its cover and if she had a bad feeling 9 times out of 10 that feeling was there for a reason, she needs to go with her gut and nevermind what other people say or think, she has to keep her babies safe and if that means calling and having them check out the situation then so be it, that is their job and maybe they will be waisting their time with this and there was nothing to be worried about but then again maybe they wont be and if not, then she will be glad that it was brought to their attention. Maybe this man has done this before, maybe not, you cannot just go around trusting everyone, being able to trust everyone and everyone being good people doesnt result in allt he crime we have these days especially abductions. I still say better to be safe than sorry.

Answer 10

I'd agree with focus, you ought to pass the info on, but emphasise that nothing happened, just so they are aware.

It IS a shame that these days a perfectly innocent person can so often regarded with suspicion, but that's the way of things. Nowadays, you can't even pick up next door's child if he falls over outside your door, without making sure there are witnesses around. Still, better safe than sorry.