Police phonecall about DS

[Hivisjacket]

Name changed for this but I am a regular poster. I had a call earlier on my mobile which came up as ‘no caller id’. It was a policewoman who asked if I was DS’s mum and named him. She said she wanted to come and talk to him in connection with an incident which occurred about a week ago. She said DS isn’t in any trouble as CCTV footage has shown he wasn’t directly involved in the incident but she wants to chat to him to hopefully find out some more information about it.

DS (16) is staying at his friends tonight so I haven’t had chance to ask him about it. I’ll speak to him as soon as I pick him up in the morning. But I’m just wondering how the police would have my mobile phone number and how do they know my DS’s name etc? I realise I’m probably being very naive here but DS has never been in trouble before so I don’t know how the police have this information. Any ideas?

Was it anything involving kids from school? They'd only need to identify one kid, then go to the school to try and identify the other kids, then get contact details for parents?

Probably it is something related to the school and they have obtained his details and yours there??

With the correct paperwork, of course.

There might have been kids from school but they are Year 11 and left 3 weeks ago just before half term. I suppose they could still have got details from school though?

Are you sure it was the police?

They’ve got the info from school. If it was on cctv I imagine school have ID’d them. I’m assuming he wasn’t carrying a placard with his name on it?

He's been identified by someone and they used your address to see what phone numbers are registered there?

@umbra - I’m not sure that’s why I thought I’d ask a few questions on here. I was a bit shocked by the call and just went along with it. It wasn’t until the call finished when I started questioning things.

@PotteringAlong - he has left school officially though and wouldn’t have been in uniform. However we do only have one big secondary school in our town so it makes sense that they would have contacted them.

I feel very embarrassed and ashamed to think school might be involved in looking at cctv images of him etc. I know I need to give him a chance to explain but I have never ever had any dealings with the police in my life. Even if he hasn’t done anything wrong, he’s obviously been hanging around with people who have.

@Hivisjacket it happens more often than you think! And yes, if you’ve only got one big secondary where you live it will have been the first port of call to identify them.

Schools have to keep data after the pupils have left - they won’t have shredded stuff because they walked out of the door 3 weeks ago. If nothing else, you still want them to be able to contact you if they need to about grades etc this summer.

He could be a witness. He might not even know what to. Like he could maybe ID a person walking past him or something and that's the info they need. I think just covering all bases asking any potential witnesses what they saw because someone's chance comments might be important.

I wouldn't assume he was hanging around with the people who were on trouble. It sounds as if he was in a place when an incident occurred but that doesn't mean he or his friends did anything wrong. If he was present when someone attacked one of his mates or threatened someone the police will want statements from anyone who might have seen anything. All it needs is the victim or another witnesss to identify him as being there and give his details and they would trace you to speak to him. They said be wasn't directly involved and isn't in trouble so I wouldn't be too worried. He just needs to be honest abour anything he saw and heard, even if it puts a friend in a bad light, because they already have cctv and will be speaking to everyone who was present.

I had the police bang on the door at 4am. Named my adult DS, asked about his relationships. He was at Uni at the time I was shitting myself. Told there had been a sexual assault on the Friday (now Monday) I showed them a photo and the police said We don’t have a description of the man just a name and they were going round the home sod all the men with my sons name! I have never called my son that time of night but I did that day.
Absolutely bizarre

Thanks everyone. It makes sense that the info could have been passed on from school. I really hope he hasn’t been hanging with the wrong crowd but I’ll get to the bottom of it tomorrow and will make sure he tells the police everything he know.

I'd have to sit on my hands to stop myself calling him at his sleepover to ask. You must have a lot more patience than me!

@MyShoelaceIsUndone

I had the police bang on the door at 4am. Named my adult DS, asked about his relationships. He was at Uni at the time I was shitting myself. Told there had been a sexual assault on the Friday (now Monday) I showed them a photo and the police said We don’t have a description of the man just a name and they were going round the home sod all the men with my sons name! I have never called my son that time of night but I did that day. Absolutely bizarre

OMG, that is very weird and scary!

He might just have been an innocent bystander / witness. Given you say he's never been in trouble before perhaps you shouldn't jump to conclusions.

I had the police turn up at my house looking for my son. He wasn't involved but knew the person who was (phone theft from school) so they came around for his version of events. So the school gave out his address!

Try not to jump to conclusions! Though I would worry too of course. Hope it turns out ok

@Librariesmakeshhhhappen - you have no idea how much I want to do that but I’m trying hard not to jump to conclusions - thanks @PurpleSunrise - you are right. I want to wait until I can talk to him properly face to face.

I find it interesting on those TV police programs how they piece together someone's movements because s/he was seen on A Street at time X and B Road at time Y, etc. They must have that information from innocent passers-by who were contacted (identified on CCTV perhaps?) and noticed the relevant person.

So he could just be someone who could possibly provide a link in a chain. Could be very helpful.

It might have nothing to do with your son/the actions of his friends. Maybe he witnessed something of valuable that has nothing to do with him.

People are right that it could be something he just witnessed, and he might not even know he witnessed anything. I was contacted years ago by police because I was seen in the same area as someone at roughly the same time, both going into an area not covered by cameras. I was able to tell them that I had seen the man approach another person as I walked through the park. Turned out the person had reported an assault and they were trying to get corroboration that that man had been seen with them. I couldnt confirm any kind of assault, but I could provide the evidence that he had walked up to the person and started talking to them. I was just walking through though so didnt know what happened after. It still helped.

I would still be chomping at the bit to talk to him. I'm surprised the police didnt insist on getting in contact today. He cant have done anything bad if they're not trying to get him tracked down tonight. Dont worry!

Thanks to everyone who replied. Just an update for anyone interested - I spoke to DS this morning and he said the incident concerned involved 3 travellers (no one he knows) who started a small fire in the local park which then caught light to a bench, damaging it slightly. DS was there with a few friends and witnessed it but didn’t mention anything as the fire was quickly put out, no one was hurt and he didn’t think it was a big deal.

He’s happy to tell the police officer what he knows and says him and his friends had nothing to do with it.

Feeling relieved!

Good news.