To have called 101?

[PaintingTheSky]

Yesterday evening at 22.00 I was driving home from visiting a friend and I pulled into a lay-by to use my phone.
The lay-by is on a semi lit, quite busy road with fields at one side and a few set back houses at the other side.
As I was using my phone, a car pulled up sharply a few yards in front of me.
The rear door on the road side opened and a man got out, followed by a young boy who looked upset.
The young boy had a school uniform on, so I'm assuming that he was aged over eleven, although he was small and skinny.
I don't think they noticed me sat in my car, as I had turned the engine/lights off.
The man said ' go on ' to the boy in a really aggressive way and the young boy ran across the road then continued to run back the way that they had come, so in effects doubling back on himself.
The car then sped off.
This raised my concern because.
A. The car pulled up really sharply, rather than a controlled stop near the kerb.
B. The man and boy got out of the car into the traffic rather than the kerb side. The man got out first, then stuck his upper body back in the car and it looked like he was trying to pull the boy out.
C. He spoke aggressively to the upset looking boy.
D. The boy set off running really fast.
E. The car then sped off.

Surely, if all was legit, then they would have dropped the boy off where he lived? The boy was still in his school uniform, wouldn't he have got changed? I understand that it may well have been the boy's father who possibly collected him straight from school, but even so, it still begs the question as to why he didn't then drop the boy at home, or at least nearby.
I don't know, it was just so strange and random that my alarm bells were immediately ringing.
However, once home a few minutes later, I decided to contact 101 and raise my concerns with them. The officer assured me that I had done the right thing and gave me an incident number.
The whole thing was captured on my dashcam, which I have viewed since getting home and it still concerns me.
I've just woken up and it was the first thought on my mind and now I'm wondering if I wasn't too hasty in reporting it to 101?
Sorry for the long post but I'm trying to give as much context as I can.

Definitely not too hasty, it sounds like a weird situation and I think I'd have done the same. Are you able to share the dash cam footage with the police? I'm glad it sounds like they took you seriously, and thanks for looking out for the boy. I hope he's okay.

Why do you think it was wrong?
If it was all innocent, no harm done.
If not, and the child was potentially in a bad situation- authorities are now looking into it and that child may now get the help they need.

I'm a cop . You did right - dont second guess yourself.

Did you get
The car registration? That can lead straight to them.

The person you spoke to on calling 101 is t an officer- it's a call handler. No legal training. Just the same as ri gong a "next" call centre really . People do labour under the misapprehension that they ring 101 or 999 and speak to a police
Officer - you don't .

That sounds really dodgy and potentially upsetting at the least for the child.

I think you did the right thing.

Yep and the issue with this, is that often these call handlers tell you that what you're calling about isn't a police issue when in fact it is/may well be. They can be real gatekeepers in my experience.

so did the boy get back into the car, or did he go into a house on the road?

definitely does sound weird

You definitely did the right thing. The child could well have been abducted but the parent/s hadn't yet realised anything was wrong or had only just reported the child as missing*.
This could be vital evidence, well done in reporting it and keep hold of the dash cam footage!

*Unfortunately it doesn't seem to spark national media attention anymore when a child goes missing. Not unless they're extremely young

👋 Call handler here. The one OP spoke to took it seriously and they were right to. I also said in my reply before Anya's that she'd done the right thing.
"These call handlers" are very well trained on what is and what isn't a police issue.

Please don't be so dramatic! It's highly unlikely to be an abduction. !

They are very very rare .

It's likely to be a domestic incident . Caller did right - but let's not let fantasyland impede the thread .

People just love
Drama . And feeling they might be part of it .

He didn't get back into the car, he took off running down the road, back the way they came.
The man got back into the car and it sped off.

Where have I been dramatic? I have written it as I witnessed it.
I never mentioned anything about an abduction, I said it raised my concerns.
Not am I living in drama loving Fantasyland, hence I'm now wondering if I was too hasty in reporting it.
Thanks for your valuable input though.

Sorry but while I love our call handlers - I've asked what legal training they get

The answer from onE was "very little "

And that's the issue

I have had incidents of robbery taking place there and then put in the box as a priority 8 .

And often have jobs that are absolutely nothing to do with police out on as priority jobs -

The force control room is at complete odds to the boots on the ground .

Some call handlers are amazing and experienced and brilliant.

Most aren't . The turnover in the control room is massive - it's a shit job not well paid and not well trained .

I worked in ours as a cop - they hated me . The managers spent more time trying to get one over me than doing their job . I left . Went back to district .
Horrible place
To
Work and very adversarial if you're a police officer . The staff generally were lovely but the managers were utter wankers . Wouldn't pay them in buttons .

Yes it does sound like a domestic incident eg argument in the car, adult angrily stopping the car and telling the child to get out. Obviously decent adults would ensure the child was home safe & inside before driving off, even if they were angry, and not physically pull the child from out
the car. So you did the right thing by reporting it. I would hope the police would check if the child was okay - they seemed scared and upset. They might not have been left near their address either.

Not you op - not saying you were dramatic the poster saying it's a potential abduction.!

Jesus Christ .
Give up .
Off to bed . Op - I wasn't calling you dramatic. Re read .

You're not being dramatic OP, I believe Anya is referring to the poster who is talking about a potential abduction which this doesn't look anything like!

Sorry yes, I just re read your post and realised it wasn't towards me. I apologise for my snippy response to you.
Yes, I did get the registration and I will keep my dashcam footage, which also shows the car and the registration clearly.

Brill op - make sure you gave call handling g the vrm of the car and keep the footage safe for now .

You did right - apology for snippy accepted ! X

@AnyaMarx It sounds like a horrible job, no wonder the staff turnover is high.
Goodnight and thank you.

I don't think we work for the same force- your control room sounds atrocious!

But yes call handlers have very little legal training but people ring us constantly for seemingly general life advice - I honestly think there should be a separate helpline for this, that we are able to put some people through to 😂

OP - you seriously did do the right thing reporting this one though, it was odd and a bit worrying. And for Anya - if there were lines of enquiry I'd grade it as a priority!

5 a month leave our control room on average .

It's shit . I went I ther to try and help - the managers were horrible, adversarial, hated cops . Shame because I felt I could have really helped .

When I went in there were 6 police officers in there .
When I left there was 1

I went i with the best of intentions . I'm a cop - all the legal training g and 15 years experience and they made me feel shit . I was pulled up by the civilian management on absolutely everything I did . Politically correct power crazed but jobs all of em.
Practically ran out of that job back to district .

@PaintingTheSky definitely the right thing to do. Anything that looks like a safeguarding issue, whatever the actual context might be, is everyone's to report. Well done and especially for having a dash cam that might be evidence if anything dodgy was going on. Don't feel bad about it x

Ruby - priori to that job I'd agree !
We
Concurs !

Thank you for all you do .

And yes sorting peoples lives out is about 75% of being a cop too! X

You did the right thing. It's better to have these things checked out than not.

It doesn't sound very suspicious to me though. You said you were in a lay-by on a busy road with only fields on one side and a few houses on the other side. Surely that will be why the child wasn't dropped off outside his house? They were travelling on the other side of the road and there was nowhere safe to stop across from his house.

Ha I g police in the co trol room was hugely beneficial for our call handlers . They'd have repeat callers ringing just to
Abuse them - so I'd say out em through to me ..

And I built rapport and saved a lot of
People a lot of grief

I'd be like " right them me old mucked what's up with you now !" And all they'd need is a 20 min chat with a cop they felt was listening. I saved some ears in there .

But the management were just out to get one up all the bloody time.
Co trip rooms need cops in them . If cops answered the phones we'd be a lot better off .