Speak Up! - View Question #327

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Question: Do police have to get parent's permission to talk to underage witnesses, not offenders?

Answer: There is no rule or law that Police must get permission to speak with underage witnesses. Many police officers do however make an effort to contact parents because they feel it is a good practice to do so.


Comments
11 thru 15 of 15 comments
On 07/02/03
Bob from AZ said:
If you wish to do something about this not being a law, contact your local goverment. Stand up and say "Hey I want this law changed", Although it will take many years to be changed.. hey you could do it. And by that time the kids would have a nice record. If the kids did nothing wrong they should talk to the police.. its people like you who tell your kids that the police are bad and then they become like the local thugs. They dont help the police when needed, thats what's wrong with this world today.. their are men and women out their protecting your familys because they want to help people. T
On 05/24/03
Dan from Othe said:
As I understand it, law enforcement officers can interrogate an under-age witness without the parents' consent, but they also have to adhere to the child's rights. If the child asks for a lawyer, the enforcement officials cannot refuse one to him. If the child asks for his parents to be present, the enforcement officials must obey the request.
On 03/12/03
John from MI said:
The only thing that happens when we as a society feel that the law officials go completely unchecked, is to breed total distrust. It perpetuates the belief that law enforcement officials are NOT to be trusted. I've seen repeatedly that law officers and school officials feel that children these days know too much about the law, making law enforcement officers and school officials jobs much harder. But when you refuse to afford children the same rights as any other citizen, simply because the child doesn't know their rights, then we as parents are forced to educate our children in the need to
On 01/02/03
Concerned Mom from CA said:
How do we change the law that allows Police to interegate juveniles without contacting the parents? Our children should be allowed representation. This happened to my son. He was pulled from his 4th period class at school. Questioned regarding an investigation, and the parents were never contacted. This interegation eventually caused my son to have a misdermenor juvenille record. How can this happen? HELP!!!! Elie's mom is right don't talk to the cops have them call you parents. And for the parents, ask the cops to put the questions in writing and call an attorney!! What about civil r
On 12/29/02
Elie from AZ said:
There are no laws about cops talking to minors. I don't understand. There are laws on fishing and spitting on the sidewalk. How or why are there no laws on cops talking to minors before calling parent? This needs to be addressed and changed. My mom says do not talk to anyone including cops until they get your mother. Just tell them your name, address and phone number. Tell them call my mom and I am not to answer your question until my mom is here. Can I get into trouble for that?
11 thru 15 of 15 comments



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