12 year old arrested

[Pixxie7]

Do you think the police acted appropriately given that they had a tip off that a boy was waving a gun around.

He wasn't. He was placed under arrest while they inspected the gun, then released.

He wasn't arrested, he was detained.

He is 12yrs old!

The age of criminal responsibility is 11.

And there are some big 12 year olds. If he was a-young, why was he sitting in the living room playing about with a gun?

People are asking "Why was someone walking about looking in windows at that time of night?". Could be a shift worker, could be an insomniac - and if lights are on and curtains are open at night, your eyes are drawn to the source.

Children shouldn't have guns. Very few people NEED guns - farmers, soldiers, gamekeepers - but for most of us there are no good reasons for having them

Thank you, Biker.

Detained, then released after the gun was examined. What else are the police expected to do?

Biker47

He was “de arrested” afterwards (not a term I’ve ever heard but one several papers have used) which suggested he was arrested?

@PlanDeRaccordement

It can’t be racial profiling by the police because they were specifically told “black male” and the exact address in the passer bys report. If the police had done racial profiling it would have to have been a report that a person on a street had a gun in their home and then the police targets the one black family on that street. That’s not what happened.

And I don’t think the passer by had a racial bias either because the illegal BB gun looked like a real gun. If it had been a obvious neon pink water toy gun, then i would suspect malicious racial bias on the part of the passer by. But the evidence all points to an honest credible report, then an appropriate police response.

Excellent summary

@Bluemoooon

Well his DF could have been through the back actually with a gun - how would the police know on entering that that was the only gun, all be it toy, they could have a full arsenal elsewhere in the house with several criminals hiding out. Police can't make assumptions that something is harmless without checking. I'd like to see some of these brave posters entering a house where there has been reported sightings of a man with a gun. I'm sure they are very polite to the lady and nicely ask if someone is playing with a toy gun and if so could they have it, crossing their fingers they don't get shot dead by some nutter inside.

You're on a hiding to nothing here

Some of these posters are ridiculous. Spinning it every which way. The media love this, printing pics of a wee lad starting school and going to a wedding

The C4 interview shows a youth who could be any age from 12 to 16.

Buy your kid a fake gun and deal with the consequences

And as for that absolutely ridiculous poster saying that they should get a massive payout. That kind of view feeds the DM sad face stories the mother seems to be loving.

I live in London and yes I absolutely would expect armed police to be called if a white person had a gun or a replica gun. I am pleased that the police take this seriously. I live in an area where a number of young teenage boys have died due to knife crime, as parents need to be teaching our teens how dangerous weapons are not talking about them as ‘toys’.

Also, as others have said - why is a 12 year opening the door at midnight? It could be a burglar, or someone drunk and dangerous.

@MitziK

Camden is always busy. You can be standing at a bus stop at 4.45am and there are just as many people around as if you're waiting for a bus at 8.15am in a standard commuter town.

At midnight, it might as well be 8pm.

Ah I see, thanks. I just assumed from the photos posted here, the neighbourhood looks like a very quiet residential one during the day, let alone in the middle of the night.

@hadenoughbleach

Of course they didn't.

Someone reports from outside a house that they saw a Black male waving a gun around inside house, did police intelligence stop to think:

• who lives in that house
• are there any children in that house
• how likely is this story to be true
• should we call out to ask who is home
• this person we are arresting is a child

No. Instead they took one look at the lovely house in a nice neighbourhood, decided there must be a Black man about to kill the people inside said house, then at least 5 firearms officers in full riot gear including rifles and visors turn up and bash this innocent lady's door in.

They handcuff her 12 YEAR OLD son, put him in the back of a police car and drive him to another street for questioning. The innocent boy and his family will be traumatised for life from that experience.

I doubt this would have happened had the family been white, the police are disgusting, and it was a completely disproportionate response, if the facts are as reported. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the investigation which the police themselves have commissioned.

So next time it could be a terrorist or someone about to go shoot up the local playground, but you think they should just ignore it if there might be children in the house?

"Should we call out to ask who is home" warn the gunman you are coming? Yeah that's a good plan.

"at the lovely house in a nice neighbourhood," ah yes because only poor people are criminals

Smile each day why are you so genuinely convinced we must consider if there's a racial element to this story?
If the report didn't mention the race of the child or his mother would you have automatically questioned if there was a racial element or thought "WTF is a 12yo child doing sitting with a gun late at night?"

His parents are bloody idiots for letting him have that gun. That's where the problem lies.
I would report anyone with a gun like that.

And I don’t think the passer by had a racial bias either because the illegal BB gun looked like a real gun. If it had been a obvious neon pink water toy gun, then i would suspect malicious racial bias on the part of the passer by. But the evidence all points to an honest credible report, then an appropriate police response.

^This is very true. And if it had been very obviously a pink water toy gun, it would have been obviously a malicious report and the person who made the report should be charged for wasting police time.

But this really does look like a real gun. So, with all the problems with gang violence in London, a report of what looks like a real gun, the police have to take it seriously.

why are you so genuinely convinced we must consider if there's a racial element to this story?

Because of the stats in here

I think we have a responsibility to consider it as a possibility. There is an issue- fwiw I don’t think it’s just in police situations we need to deliberately consider our possible bias.

That may as well be the case regarding the mother Chrislilleyswig, though I doubt it. But she has not as a ridiculous post suggested, made him out to be a hero.

WTF is a 12yo child doing sitting with a gun late at night?

I think this as well, and said I didn’t agree with children having toy guns earlier in the thread.

@Flowers009

The police took it to far this could (and was) be a malicious report and they wasted all that time What they should have done is found out who lived at the address first..

You mean check to see if it said "terrorist lives here" on the voters list?

@C130

That may as well be the case regarding the mother Chrislilleyswig, though I doubt it. But she has not as a ridiculous post suggested, made him out to be a hero.

Perhaps not, but there doesn't seem to be any acknowledgement of there part they played

It's all "police bad"

@ZombieFan

If BB guns were banned for everyone does anyone think it would make a single bit of difference to this story?

if there had been no gun there'd have been no incident. Do you mean if it had been a real gun?

@SmileEachDay

why are you so genuinely convinced we must consider if there's a racial element to this story?

Because of the stats in here

I think we have a responsibility to consider it as a possibility. There is an issue- fwiw I don’t think it’s just in police situations we need to deliberately consider our possible bias.

It if we didn't know the race of the family would you still assume possible racial bias or look at the reported facts (and I say that loosely because MSM aren't known for being exactly factual!)

@mathanxiety

Ban all toy guns and children will make gun-like objects out of sticks, umbrellas, Lego, Meccano sets, and much more, KeyWorker.

Yes they will (I used to as a kid) be they will look like sticks, umbrellas, Lego, Meccano sets,

SmileEachDay I think you need to understand that if the police get a report on a gun this is how they are going to act - regardless of colour. I’ve seen raids on white people and this is how they act.

There is no bias or racial element when a gun is reported. This is not the same as stop and searches ect..

As it was so late at night, why was the child described as a black male? Surely if you’re that concerned for a child you just say ‘there’s a child with a gun in his living room’, not there is a ‘black male with a gun’.

This is what happens on the US, anything involving black people and children is wildly exaggerated and the RACE is the key instigator.

It’s very scare that the same culture is creeping into the UK, especially so soon after a black father and his 13 yo son were thrown off their bikes by the police during a charity bike ride. It’s insidious.

@TimeWastingButFun

That poor kid. Traumatising him over a toy, that is disgraceful.

FFS they didn't know it was a toy! The police had a report of a gun, what do you expect them to do? Just assume it's a toy?

In some people's eyes the police can't do anything right.

It if we didn't know the race of the family would you still assume possible racial bias or look at the reported facts (and I say that loosely because MSM aren't known for being exactly factual!)

I’m not assuming racial bias.

If I didn’t know the race? Is that meant to be a gotcha? The people involved would know the race, so I’d hope there would be consideration of potential racial elements if there were black people involved. I don’t understand the point you’re making.

Agree re MSM reporting. It’s often total bill is 😂

I was watching Jimmy Kimmel the other day and his presenter was asking white people out and about if they had black friends (most said no) and then asked black people if they had any white friends (most said no) and when asked why they didn’t have any white friends, one teenager about 18 or so answered ‘because white folk are scary’.

Threads like these make me realise why many black people are scared of white people.