Police allegedly spurn Good Samaritan reporting ‘neglect’ of 10-y-o

A concerned citizen has complained that he was chased away when he went to a police station in the Corporate Area on Monday afternoon to report that a 10-year-old child was left unsupervised at home on several occasions.

“I thought I was doing a good deed and was doing my part as a citizen to protect the safety of a child,” the man told The Gleaner, noting that the police personnel with whom he interacted, however, did not appear to see it that way.

The individual pointed out that he had heard it said many times, on the radio, that citizens have a responsibility to make reports to the authorities about any form of neglect, abuse or ill treatment towards a child.

He recounted that, on Monday, when he realised that the child’s mother had left him alone at home he decided that he had to do something about it.

“I went to the police station and the first policeman I saw, I told him what I had come about. I asked the policeman if it was right for a mother to leave her 10-year-old child unprotected. The policeman responded that the mother must know what her child was capable of [and] that is why she left him by himself.”

He said he told the policeman that he was advised that the child was too young to be left alone.

“The policeman sent me to speak with a senior officer. I told the officer what I had come about. When I asked him if it was OK for a mother to leave her 10-year-old child unsupervised, he responded that he did not know. They did not take a statement from me or even visit the home to see what was happening.

“I am really shocked by the way the police handled the matter concerning the child and I really thought that they would have the child’s welfare and interest as a priority,” he said.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Attorney-at-law Bert Samuels, in commenting on the issue, said the Child Care and Protection Act has adopted “the truism that it takes a village to raise a child”.

He emphasised that because many cases of neglect and abuse are carried out by parents and near relatives and, because the police cannot be everywhere at all times, the act has rightly placed the responsibility on neighbours to make reports of abuse of children.

“Therefore the police should not have turned him away but should have welcomed him and taken the necessary steps to assist in [ensuring] the safety and welfare of the child,’’ Samuels said.

The incident at the police station has been reported to the Independent Commission of Investigations, which has now taken an interest in the matter.

“Under the Child Care and Protection Act, any person who has information which causes that person to suspect that a child is or is likely to be abandoned, neglected or physically or sexually ill treated, or in need of care and protection, shall make a report to the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA),” said attorney Courtney Foster.

She added: “The CPFSA is a specialised agency and can receive reports at their tip line. This agency may then liaise with the relevant authorities [including the police]. Notwithstanding the integral role of the CPFSA, if there is a matter of urgency and the CPFSA cannot be reached by the person making the report, the next immediate step is to make a report to the police that have a duty to keep watch by day and by night, and to detect crime. The person making the report should keep a record that they have made the report.”

In an article published in The Gleaner in 2016, Rosalee Gage-Grey, CEO of what was then known as the Child Development Agency, had indicated that the first thing parents need to decide is if their child is responsible enough to stay home alone.

“Whether a child is going to stay home alone should depend on the child’s maturity and comfort level,” Gage-Grey had said. “A general rule of thumb is that no child less than 16 years of age should be left alone for any extended period of time.”

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