To be expecting more from the police than this?

[Whatshouldhappenhere]

I did start a thread over in chat a few days ago and received some helpful responses but I’m just looking for some general advice about the police/legal system in general and hoping someone can help. Also wondering whether I’m expecting too much.

Background is: 12 yo DS was attacked on his way home from school last week by a boy he recognised from school but had never interacted with before and didn’t even know his name. DS overtook three boys from his year at school, one boy pulled his airpod from his ear as he walked past so DS snatched it back, shouted at them and ran away. After a short while, DS realised they weren’t chasing so stopped running but this boy then decided to start chasing, caught up with DS and punched him 4-5 times in the face. A woman who lived on the street intervened so the boy stopped and ran away (who knows how long the attack would have gone on for had she not intervened).

My first port of call was the school as soon as I found out, they said the student liaison officer would phone me back. Then I called 101 who took all of the details, gave me a crime number and said an officer would visit to take a statement. The SLO found out the boy who attacked DS was expelled before Christmas so the school had no jurisdiction and couldn’t act. He found the other two boys and had a chat with them but that’s the end of school involvement. The assistant head spoke to me on the phone last Thursday and promised he would have a chat with DS on Friday morning but never did. I believe this was simply damage control more than anything, he was acting like my best friend throughout the chat but didn’t follow through with the promise to chat to DS so I’m fairly disappointed although I do understand why the school can do very little else.

A police officer visited on Saturday. I thought he would sit and take a lengthy statement and be here a while but he was here for 5 minutes. He simply asked DS what happened and told me he would go talk to the boy and his parents now. I asked why it wouldn’t be taken any further and he said they don’t like putting children through the legal system over what was probably a heat of the moment thing. He said he’s sure I wouldn’t want DS’s life potentially ruined if he did something like this so I said DS wouldn’t do something like this though whereas this boy has and he’s already been expelled from school.

Basically police stance was they don’t like to charge children because it can affect their lives forever so deal with it. I contacted 101 later that day after mulling over it to ask to speak to the officer or someone else about it because I’m disappointed in the outcome. They said the officer would call me straight back but I’m still awaiting that call. Contacted 101 again yesterday to chase the call back and they said someone would call me but they’re unable to offer a timescale so I’m not hopeful anyone will.

Where do I go from here, if anywhere? Have the police done enough? Is a chat with the boy sufficient and I’m being horrible expecting anything beyond this? It’s just the fact it was a totally unprovoked attack and my DS is a really good boy, his only mistake was walking past the wrong person at the wrong time.

The assault on yourself - did the suspect receive a caution if they admitted the offence - just curious? Just because they were released without charge, the crime investigation will still need to be finalised.

No caution that I’m aware of. They asked him to go to the station for a chat so he did, he admitted the offence and they dropped it because the assault wasn’t deemed serious enough to press charges. That’s all I recall, it was a few years ago now. I expected the police to do more for my child because he’s an innocent child but obviously not.

You can tell by some of the responses here why some kids act the way they do. Learned behaviour. Anyone condoning what this vile little bully has done to the OPs son are people I would be keeping away from and certainly keeping my kids away from their kids.

I think it’s the fact we teach children that they should tell the police if something bad happens and that the police are there to help. Realistically, they seem to do very little unless it’s something truly heinous and even then it’s not guaranteed. Just feel enormously disappointed and let down.

The perpetrator will now be a person of note to the police (even if he wasn't before now). I don't think this means he has got off scot-free, but is consequence of what he did. Involving him in the criminal justice system at this stage only escalates matters, and if he already has form, it is likely that he, or his family, will start throwing around counter-accusations. All of this is time-consuming, costly, and for the most part, unproductive.

We had a gang of kids in a nearby village, nowt happened legally until they trashed the primary school one night and the next night set fire to a club building. They were hauled in then and charged. Upon release one of them set fire to another public building. I think he was rearrested . The bar is set very high now.

@Whatshouldhappenhere, the police have helped though. The incident is recorded on police systems, an officer has been to see your son (although you aren't happy with the amount of time spent) and the suspect will be spoken to. They have acted within policy from what I can gather from here. If you aren't happy with the way children are dealt with you need to take it higher up and make a complaint in regards to the policy.

Life isn't a police film. That officer or officers will be attending many jobs a day, dealing with incidents with a high risk, emergency calls, as well as general investigations in their workloads. I'm really sorry you didn't get the level of service you expected, but spending 5 mins at your home is the reality of another over stretched service. The rest is just officers acting within powers/policy/procedure/legislation.

I really hope your son feels better soon.

A police officer visited on Saturday

Genuinely amazed it got that far

Why? Because the police shouldn’t investigate an assault? Or is it ok for kids to assault other kids?

OP send your Son to self defence classes.

He,unfortunately, needs to learn to defend himself.

Sadly are having to do this as much as DS doesn’t want to, we feel we have no choice. It’s a case of the classes and ensuring he doesn’t travel through that estate again if it can be avoided.

Points taken, I understand how overstretched the public sector are in general so I get it. I know what to expect if anything ever happens in future, just hope it never does.

Thank you for your advice and well wishes, DS is thankfully ok so that’s the most important thing.

yanbu

sounds like this boy is really troubled and his behaviour needs to be managed to avoid him stabbing someone soon.

@Whatshouldhappenhere I know you absolutely shouldn't have to but on the evenings your son does have to walk through the estate could you book him a taxi to get home instead! I know you really should have to but it would at least keep DS safe and give him a break until such times as he is ready to walk the route again.

There is something seriously wrong with our law enforcement and justice system.

How have we ended up in the situation where someone can assault a stranger, unprovoked, and the preferred outcome is that they get a talking to from the police. In the meantime the victim gets a recommendation to go off and obtain counselling in order not to feel frightened about walking in public in the daytime.

I'm not criticising the police for this process as they will be following guidelines. But is it any wonder that standards of behaviour have fallen, when the perpetrators know that they can pretty much do as they wish with very few consequences.

Making the lad into a criminal won't make him into a better nicer person. It will just teach him to confidently embrace a thug identity (since that's how everyone else sees him).

DS (age 11-13) was twice innocently beaten up by other kid(s) at age 14/16; over my dead body did I want the other kids to get criminal records from it. Was happy for police to handle situation in other ways.

If we had a criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation not punishment then maybe I could think like OP.

Not at all, I just have extensive experience dealing with the police so have low expectations

I'm so sorry for some of the comments you are getting on here. I can see now why parents resort to putting videos and information on social media when things have happened to their kids. At least it warns other people. Glad your son is okay.

DS (age 11-13) was twice innocently beaten up by other kid(s) at age 14/16

How is one ‘innocently’ beaten up, exactly?

I don’t want him to have a criminal record necessarily, I just think he deserves something beyond a short telling off by a police officer which he probably won’t take seriously anyway. I do believe in rehabilitation so perhaps this is a route the police could take with him but I guess he’ll have to commit more crimes before this happens.

So kids 14-16 who definitely know better were able to just get on with things because they beat up your child and you DID NOT want them to get into trouble? It is almost like you are siding with the bullies over your own child.

Nobody I can tell you will harm one hair on my kids heads without being punished. If you do not want a criminal record then you should not be commiting crimes to begin with.

@lljkk turning the other cheek when her DS is used as a punch bag is seriously concerning. It's not her body, nor her pain, fear, suffering.

Call social services and tell them. Hopefully they will act to safeguard both your son and the attacker. Possibly there’s a family situation that needs looking into. Kids don’t behave like that without a reason.

Don’t forget to mention the youth offending teams based in courts who consider it a win when their gaming the system results in no criminal record for a young person.

Personally all i see it doing, is societally we have young people consistently going through the system, no consequences for their actions, their victims suffering, and when they turn into adults, they are in for a bit of a shock on their next incident.

The research might say it’s better for the young person, but…. what about everyone else?

@Bard6817

What about everyone else?

Research has shown that in short, criminalising children fundamentally and adversely affects their development in many ways. This creates adults who have M/H difficulties, struggle with unemployment, put pressure on health services just to name a few.

As well as this, criminalising children can reinforce to them that they are “bad” at a time when they are still developing. For those that have a difficult home life, or are being exploited in anyway, this basically just tells them that it is correct they are awful people who will never amount to anything. This is why intervention to change behaviour is the preferred method.

For those that say the age of criminal responsibility is 10, yes it is. However in the same breath we don’t let children vote, smoke, drink, have sex etc etc. because they are still developing. It has been proven many times over that criminalising children doesn’t have a good outcome for society as a whole.

How old is the boy that attacked him? Might be relevant in terms of criminal responsibility.

Ultimately the police have no “customer service” aspect to their role. They might not call you back if they’re busy and the decision is final. They don’t have to, unfortunately.

one thing you need to remember is that legally, the police don’t have to investigate every crime reported to them. they only have a legal duty to investigate serious offences like murder and rape - so it could be the case that they refuse to investigate this and that decision can’t be appealed unless you make a formal complaint.

Research by who @limoncelloo ?