To call the police re the theft of DDs phone at school

[OneHandFlapping]

DD's mobile was taken out of her blazer pocket while she did PE. She has an app on it that has enabled her to track it to a nearby village, and there is also (according to DD) CCTV outside the changing room which could show anybody going in or out during the lesson,

The school have washed their hands of it, saying it is a police matter. Is there any point in going to the police? Will they laugh at me? I hate the thought of some nasty little thief having DD's phone.

They won't laugh at you. In Kent at least I know that this would be classed as a Schools Incident and that investigation in the first instance should and would be down to the school. However, if they have declined to do so and directed you to contact the police then they would take a report and investigate.

If the school have washed their hands of it, then definitely go to the police. The worst they can do is nothing, you won't be any more badly off than you already are.

I think it's outrageous that the school won't do anything. Don't they even ask students to hand their phones in somewhere while they do PE?

Normally, thefts should be dealt with by the school. If the school or the parents don't agree to it being dealt with internally, then the police will investigate.
You need to question the school's policy on locking changing rooms when they do P.E. Is there a safe place to keep phones?

Yes she should have handed her phone in, but she forgot. It's a brand new phone on a sodding 2 year contract. She's not usually a careless girl, and frankly, she should be able to leave her phone in her pocket without someone stealing it.

My DS's school wouldn't deal with this either because mobile phones are banned

Yes, call the Police.

I wouldn't be surprised if they've disabled the tracker now though.

I don't think they will laugh at you. It is theft. My mate recently had his van stolen and luckily he had left his phone in it and he also had that app. The thief was apprehended in 20 mins so call them.

Isn't it a bit odd that the school would rather you get the police in than investigate it themselves?

The police will ask them to look anyway won't they?

Unless they've had trouble with this in the past and found it's best just to go to them? But that means they've got a problem with thieves which needs looking at.

They shouldn't laugh at you, if you think they're not taking it seriously enough ask someone else there.

Yes the tracker was disabled by this morning. Just waiting for DD to tell me the name of the teacher she spoke to, and will check that she has got the story straight before calling police then. Can anyone remind me of the non emergency number?

You'll have to tell the police anyway, won't you? If you want to claim on insurance you'll need a crime number.

I think our excess is more than the cost of a phone unfortunately.

Contact the police, if the school wont help (shame on them) why should the thieving little shit get away with it.

101 is the non-emergency police number

I work in a College so a little different from school but we always advise the student/parent to inform the police as the school/college is not the victim of the theft. To claim on insurance you will need a crime reference number hence the police involvement.

Schools/Colleges also don't usually havethe right to search pupils/students. We have been known to ask students if they agree to have their bags searched and to turn out their pockets but we cannot force them to do so.

We have also prevented students from leaving a classrooom where a phone went missing until the police arrived.

If the school has CCTV they can review it and provide the police with the relevant information upon request. What they cannot do, due to data protection laws, is give you or your daughter details of the person shown on the CCTV.

We have found that generally the police are interested in this matters and visit the "thierf's" home. The matters tend to be dealt with by way of mediation rather than a criminal record but obviously both partie sneed to agree to this.

It would also be worth giving the school a call to ask them to record the relevant footage so that it can be shown to the police and used as evidence as required. Many CCTV systems don't automatically store the images after a set period of time and it can take the police a week or so to follow up on these matters.

Good luck in getting it back

Thank you Fingers. I have reported it now, and have left a message with the school to contact me, so I will ask them about saving the CCTV.

The school do not want to be involved because they said she could hand it so it was secure and she didn't. They provided a safe alternative to putting it in your pocket.

The school are not responsible or the victim. This is theft, its a police matter. I also imaging loads of kids actually misplace their phones rather than them being stolen, so again the school will not get involved with accusing a pupil.

It is a police matter not a school matter.