Thursday, March 22, 2012
When The Police Are Wrong
It was Dec 23. My daughter just delivered donated Christmas presents to a family. The mother of this family thanked her and asked in broken English, "Can you please help me? I am a baker. If I work tonight, I will get paid over time and then I will be able to buy gifts for my children for Christmas. Can you babysit for me?" When my daughter explained this situation to me, I was leary of letting her babysit in an unfamiliar place. We didn't know these people or anything about them. The mom would start work at 8pm and work all night and the dad was a cab driver who would be home around 2 am. The whole family spoke little English. I called the rectory to see if they knew anything about this family. No, they were just on a list of people who asked for donations. We wanted to help and considered our options. I could babysit, but I still had so much wrapping and cooking to do. My other daughters were scheduled to waitress for Christmas parties. Then my daughter had an idea. What if her guy friend who is also fluent in another language, babysat with her? This works! And he agreed to help. When the two of them got to the house, my daughter called and informed me it wasn't the language she thought it was that they spoke, but something else! And they didn't know what it was. So the 2 17 year old good souls played all evening with the 3 younger good souls, and put them to bed and waited until the dad came home from work at 2 am. When he did get home he thanked them very very much for helping his family. As my daughter and her friend drove the car away from the home they realized those sirens behind them were for them! They pulled into a McDonalds parking lot. The cop puts on his hat and strolls to their car, shines the flashlight in the drivers face and then my daughters face and then in the rest of the car. And asks to see the license. He then informs the teens that they are breaking the law by breaking curfew, and they cannot be out after midnight. When the kids tried to explain why they were out so late, the officer laughed and said, "yea right...I was 17 once too."
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And you wonder why young people don't tell their story sometime. sandie
ReplyDeleteI work for a police department and I have to say, in their defense, that sometimes the kids who are stopped are lying and not out doing good deeds for the most part. Which unfortunately give the police officers a different view then that of civilians.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry she was stopped and glad that she was doing such a good deed :)
What a jerk!
ReplyDeleteand kudos to having great kids who give selflessly!
ReplyDeleteArghh- that is so frustrating! And they were doing such a good deed, to boot!
ReplyDeleteHi and welcome to my blog!! I have become your latest follower too and am looking forward to reading more! X
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet, selfless daughter you have! And this is why cops have such a bad reputation....
ReplyDeletethat seems strange ... i would think he would investigate the situation more. like drive with them to your home & question you on the meaning as to why they were out so late. was there a fine or what was the punishment for the girls? i believe i would test the issue. seems very unfair & uncalled for. but being that i'm a christian ... i would say pray & ask GOD what is the point, reason or what can i learn from this? (:
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful story, and it sucks that the cops did not want to believe it. Sometimes there just isn't enough trust left in this world. What a shame.
ReplyDeleteOh my, what a night. So glad your children have the heart to help though, and that you came up with a solution for the babysitting needed.
ReplyDeleteIt is always sad when the police don't believe the kids...as the daughter of a police officer, I know what they encounter, but it does seem a shame, especially when they were doing a good deed.
ReplyDeleteSomething similar happened to me once. I was 17 and Florida law says 1am, right? Well I was at work until 12 and then I drove out of my way to take a coworker home. I got pulled over less than a mile from my house at like 1:!5. What I want to know is, how can they tell by looking through a car window that you are 17 as opposed to 18 or maybe even older? They are so gooooood....
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to hear there are such willing and helpful teens out there. It's unfortunate a few bad apples spoil the bunch, and it's unfortunate your daughter was pulled over for doing something so selfless. However, my husbands a police officer, and in his defense I must say they're just doing their job. I wonder what everyone would think if the police weren't out patrolling at 2am. I don't know about you, but I'm thankful to know someone's doing a job I could never do.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the rest of the story? Did he let them off with a warning?
ReplyDeleteHow good of your daughter and her friend to babysit and help the family; you know the Scripture about entertaining angels unaware.
What a wonderful thing for your daughter and friend to do. Empathy for others and service are not seen as often as they should be. Sounds like the police in my town. Have stopped both my kids after curfew. One was old enough and then got harassed for possible underaged drinking when he realized she was over 18. She had not been but was detained for 25 minutes. Almost got in trouble from me by missing MY curfew until I heard the story. Hope it turned out okay for your daughter.
ReplyDeleteI hope your daughter was not punished. But just know, she was doing a good deed. She will be blessed.
ReplyDeleteYes, what is the rest of the story? You, as the parent, should have been called so the story could be verified. I hope they weren't ticketed.
ReplyDeleteCops are (unfortunately) inherently suspicious - that's their job.
ReplyDeleteI guess they're not used to dealing with honest, decent kids. What a bummer!
That's a not-so-nice end to an otherwise lovely story. Hope it didn't dampen your daughter's spirits too much.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your lovely comment on my blog, I really appreciate it. Have a lovely evening xo
When I was younger similar things like this happened to me a lot. The police in my area aren't known to be the nicest.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephen, otherwise the cops were doing their job and doing it correctly.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice they did such a nice thing. Personally I would have not allowed my daughter to sit for anyone she did not know, it seems like a tremendous risk, I can only assume your daughter is a good judge of character.
I guess i am just a Cranky Old Man
This is really so very sad that it had to happen to these two! I hope it never happens again, but if it does, tell her to call you when they first detect they are being followered. This happened to me and my sister and when the officer took the phone, I don't know what Mom said to him, but he gave me the phone back and said have a nice evening, then walked off! Yes we were afraid, and was coming home from an aunt's house, after my younger sister wanted to come home instead of staying. He seemingly, picked us out of 4 or 5 other cars on the road! Makes you want to stop and think, Huh?
ReplyDeleteWere they charged? What happened? I'm so sorry & I'm glad your daughter & her friend is safe! =)
ReplyDeleteI got pulled over working late once because my license plate light was out. Yeah right..it was a brand spanking new car I had just purchased. I kindly asked the officer if he could show me what he was talking about because I wanted to make sure my brand new car was compliant with the law. He looked surprised...but agreed. I had on a very nice business suit and was obviously coming home from a late night at work. Of course the light worked fine. The officer said "well just because it is a new car doesn't mean it works. It wasn't working by the rail road tracks." I was speechless but was afraid to argue with him for fear of harassment. As I mentioned something about having to get it checked out by the warranty department ...he must have felt dumb. "Well..the real reason I pulled you over was because your license plate was very close to a known criminal in the area." Ok officer, whatever! I know you are lying but I am afraid to argue so just stay quiet. God bless our police officers, some are great, but it is incidents like this that make me really dislike the police.
ReplyDeleteGreat story. I was 17 once and as a parent of now 4 grown children and a grandson who will one day be 17, even if I knew where my child was I would be grateful to the police officer for doing his duty. What if your teen-ager was out after curfew or maybe worse?
ReplyDeleteBy the way kudos's to your daughter for offering to babysit for the family.
Saddens me to read so many comments about the cops. But also saddens me to read that the above cop made such a comment. He was probably just trying to lighten the air but did so the wrong way. Pulling them over was just part of his job. I was pulled over once for breaking curfew- the funny part- I was 20 at the time. I saw that as a compliment. I honestly think his comment was innocent just worded wrong. Then again- I am a law enforcement officer wife (LEOW) so I know what they go through and I know what their job requires. No one likes being pulled over- it does tend to ruin a good evening. But at least he was doing his job just made a bad choice in a joke.
ReplyDeleteWhat a disappointing ending to a good night's work! I'm so proud of your daughter and her friend for this and hope they didn't get in too much trouble because of their good deed!
ReplyDeleteWow I hope there is a happier ending to this story....wow what a wonderful thing to do for strangers and for this to happen! Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteThat is so disappointing!
ReplyDeleteI hope he let them go without giving them a ticket.
Ohhhhh... I hope he didn't give them a ticket!!! xo Diana
ReplyDeleteVery funny, my son got pulled over for breaking curfew because he was driving to swim practice at 4:30 AM!
ReplyDeletehow sad that adults don't have more faith in the younger generation. we can't keep setting people up for failure! geeze!
ReplyDeleteDang it, they are not always right:( Hope they got out of it! Have a blessed evening, HUGS!
ReplyDeleteman...i got busted for curfew once...did they at least call you to verify and then let them off? good on them for doing the good deed though
ReplyDeleteThe world is so cynical most of the time, that people find it hard to believe they're witnessing genuine kindness and courtesy when it happens in front of them. Sad. Thanks for your visit and joining the Hop. You might also like my other site: botanicalbalance.scentsy.us
ReplyDeletewww.drinkyourgreensandminerals.com
So what happened? You just left us hanging. Do tell. Liz
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jon, it's their job to be suspicious, I know it can be very hurtful to an honest child. Bless the kids for being such good kids and having such great hearts.
ReplyDeleteDid they get a ticket? Or did he let them go. And yes that was very kind of your daughter
ReplyDeletePathetic.
ReplyDeleteOh, man. That's terrible. On the bright side- your daughter did something amazing for someone else and that is something to be SO proud of!
ReplyDelete-kendall
{songbirdsandbuttons.blogspot.com}
No good deed goes unpunished, eh?
ReplyDeleteCool on the sugar bowl, I am looking for one ,and a gravy dish in solid white to go with a set of china jeff found at thrift store.
ReplyDeleteit is missing gravy dish,and one cup but for 5$ could not beat that
That was nice of your daughter and her friend. I believe teens are allowed to be out after curfew if they are traveling home from a job. Sorry this happened.
ReplyDeletexoxo Bunny Jean
I hope they just got a wave and a wink afterwards and were sent on their way.
ReplyDeleteThis just isn't fair, but their effort out ways the ticket. Again...great story.
ReplyDeleteTotally ridiculous! I am so sorry that happened to them.
ReplyDeletecan police officers call the parents or guardian first before making a sarcastic comments? :-(
ReplyDeleteJJRod'z
thanks for stopping by my blog. hope the police did not stop u on your way... just kidding...
They're lucky they didn't get hauled in.... and it was very nice of them to help out that way!
ReplyDeleteCheck me out :)
ReplyDeletehttp://taracl2011.blogspot.com/
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HEy reading this & its crazy now in days police officers react, SOmetimes your doing good & they think your just doing bad, I mean we are young but some of us grow faster than others.
ReplyDeleteThat's just insulting! How dare that cop play judge. He has no business saying a word. But, what a great lesson to your daughter and her guy friend: some adults, even cops, can be close minded and jaded by the majority of what they see. They don't understand that a lot of us take the following statement very seriously, "In the world, not of the world."
ReplyDeleteOh how sweet they are to help that family! Sort of sad that the cop wouldn't believe a story like that. He must see too much of the bad stuff!
ReplyDeleteOH My----Here are kids trying to do something special to help someone, and then 'that' happened. Hope it was finally straightened out --and that the kids were THANKED for their good deed instead of scolded...
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming to my blog. I am enjoying yours. Please come back anytime.
Hugs,
Betsy
Thanks for stopping by my blog!! I am now a follower.
ReplyDeleteIn your daughter and her friend's hearts they know they did something good. Police can be jerks too. Sometimes this authority thing they think they have gets misused more often than anyone knows and that there is no gray area..there are still a lot of honest people out there and I'm sure that you're very proud because you raised good kids.
I'll visit again..take care,
Marivic
Beautiful story and I really hope it had a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteYou have to feel sorry for the police these day that they are so cynical. Have a great weekend
Carolyn
That is too bad that something like this would happen to your daughter after she did a good deed.
ReplyDeletei hope they were not charged, God bless them more for helping the family, they are such a model and inspiration.
ReplyDeleteIt seems being a good kid is rare these days. They are sweethearts. I hope everything turned out ok.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful family you have. You must have some fun times! I'm an only child,but I have two beautiful and caring daughters, two granddaughters aged 14 and 2, and a grandson of 3, so I am blessed indeed. I am now following you. Thank you for your comment on my blog .
ReplyDeleteHi, Thank you for stopping by my blog. I am enjoying reading through your blog. I have now followed you in return as well. Happy schooling. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great story, and you must be very proud of your daughter to want to help that family like that. Pity about the Police following them though. They didn't deserve that!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that happened to them. Really great story
ReplyDeleteThat's so sad! I hate when crap like that happens. My husband was once pulled over for what we call "Driving While Mexican (DWM)", simply because he was alone, in a really nice looking Yukon Denali (my mom's!), in a predominantly white rural community. And all he was doing was buying a cake for mom and I, who were at home sick! So sad!
ReplyDeleteThe positive thing about your post is how giving the teens were to help a stranger. I loved that part. The police have a jaded look sometimes about things. They deal with so many bad experiences.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Jeanne
I have just discovered your blog and lucky to comment here. I think your blog is adorable. You look fashionable, dear. Mind to follow each other? I make sure follow you back, dear!
ReplyDeletehave a nice weekend!
I hope your daughter wasn't discouraged...I get so angry when adults treat teens like they don't know anything. New follower!
ReplyDeleteYou are an awesome mom to make all that happen! It's too bad it had to end that way. I hope their punishment wasn't too severe.
ReplyDeleteSandy
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Hello mother-of-eight far far away .....
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you found me .....cannot believe how .....
and you wrote a comment ..... Thank you .
I looked for your blog and oh my.......
You have so many comments and so many followers ....and yet you had time to write me ! What a big surprise !
You are a mother of eight .....wauw .
I am a mother of four !
But hey ....I was alone with my children since 1992 ....
They were little by than . Hard times .... I had to work for no alimony ....But we did well
and so I feel a little alike ...hi hi
You and your husband have 8
I on my own have 4 .
and....I am a grandmother of beautiful Eva who will be 10 months old tomorrow !
Seeing my firstborn son as a father is something so beyond words .
What a blessing to experience !
All my children are grownups now and I enoy being a mom every day.
Happy weekend !
wow! I can't believe they were doing something SO nice and got busted...I wish more teens were like them. you've got a good egg :)
ReplyDeleteWould have been hard for me to let my child go and do in a situation like this.....that's where we have to put our trust in our big God and let go. You did good =) Yes, that cop was wrong. Can't really blame him though, few kids would be out doing good at that hour!
ReplyDeleteAww so sweet of your daughter and her friend to baby sit those kids, and so sad that the cops didn't believe them! Didn't know there was a curfew, as we don't have curfew in my country!
ReplyDeleteThank you once again so much for commenting on my blog!
Momto8 thanks for the comment you left on my blog about the Prayer Conference hope you will join us for it will be a gathering...
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that the police generalize or "profile". In this case, this officer was wrong about these kids. They were doing a good deed and get hassled for it! How did it all turn out??
ReplyDeleteThanks for the follow and I'm returning the favor! :)
Thank you for visiting Me and following My blog.Yes,of course I'm now following your delightful life.
ReplyDeleteIt is really disappointing when members of the police force do not use their discretion. Anyway congratulations to your daughter and her friend for a job well done. Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh My I'm your 2000 follower! YEAH !!!!
ReplyDeletegreat story momof8...
ReplyDeletetoo bad that cop put a damper on those 2 great kids doing their best so that family could have a little extra for their kids...
BEAR HUGS xxx ~victoria~
The more I read about your family, the more I like them. What a wonderful, selfless thing your daughter did for that family!
ReplyDeleteAt least the cop had a glimmer of understanding. Around here, not so much...«Louis» fears this story would have a different ending...
ReplyDeleteYour daughter did a very helpful thing for that woman.
trekking your blog!!!
ReplyDeletegrrrr.... i think the police thinks its an excuse or alibi.
cheers!
..TREK..
Oh wow! I can't believe that. How nice of your daughter and her friend though!! There should be exceptions to the rule in situations like that and maybe the cop could have looked into it further before assuming.
ReplyDelete**I've nominated you for an award, check out my blog!
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Brandi
Unbelievable! That ticket is worth going to court and fighting!
ReplyDeleteoh my.. such a difficult situation. I hope your daughters didn't get in trouble in the end. I couldn't blame these policemen so much because I know for sure that there had been offending teens and would try to lie about it but in this situation, calling the teens parents would definitely solve the dispute.
ReplyDeleteSpanish Pinay
You know something, if everybody raised their kids the way you did, this world would be a much better place to live in!! Forget the police, they were just doing their job!!! I admire your patience and time, each time you stop by my blog!!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!!
It's so frustrating that they did such a good thing only to get "punished." It's extremely unfortunate!
ReplyDeleteI was so happy to read that they were able to help that family. It definitely was a risk but one that the family or your daughter will never forget. I think it's a good lesson to learn early on that just because you do the right thing, or a good thing, doesn't necessarily mean that people are going to recognize it or that things will go your way. We have to remember that God sees and He is honored when we are obedient to his call.
ReplyDeleteThat was sweet of your daughter to do the babysitting. I'm not a fan of curfew laws, especially when a lot of kids work late like I did in high-school. It sounds like you have great kids!
ReplyDeleteYou have a beautiful family! That is so sweet of your daughter and her friend to help the family and sweet of you to allow her to go. You have taught me a valuable lesson today!
ReplyDeleteYour daughter is very sweet and helpful. I wonder how was that policeman as a teenager.
ReplyDeleteI am your new follower :)
xoxo
Myric
Oh my goodness, dang cop! What a sweet daughter to help them!
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful that your family helped that family out like that. The Lord will bless you all for it.
ReplyDeleteAnd golly - I didn't see that ending coming!
That's awful. You're daughter did a very generous thing and you were very sweet for allowing her too. Now a days you never know who you can trust with your kids no matter how old they are.
ReplyDeleteMy kids got stopped a few times, too, when they were equally innocent of wrongdoing.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they were willing to do such a great thing and found a way to do it safely by paring up.
=)
Hi Mom....Thanks for finding my blog and following me! Always a pleasure. I am in need of new reading material so I thought I'd check out your blog. This post was great. Leave it to a cop to ruin a very special evening for those 2. Here they were doing a good thing for someone and he ruined it. Look forward to getting to know you more. BB
ReplyDeletehttp://bouncinbarbs.blogspot.com
You have a curfew? Amazing! I think we could do with one in UK.
ReplyDeleteThe police often do get things wrong, I'm afraid.
Well, the officer was just doing his job, and since he laughed and made a kinda bad joke, I'm hoping he just let the kids go with a warning.
ReplyDeleteYou left us hanging. I told my husband about this post and he also asked me what happened next? :)
ReplyDeleteKudos for raising generous and kind hearted children. I hope to be like you someday.
Unfortunately, it was such a rare thing for two teens to do, just about any cop would think they were not telling the truth. What a tribute to you and your husband for raising such kind-hearted, selfless kids. I hope the policeman was able to talk to you or your husband or the other family to find out they were telling the truth.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame that had to happen and I am glad I have always been blessed and have dealt with wonderful officers of the law.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar situation happen (only I wasn't out doing good deeds like that we were just driving home from a homecoming dance.) It's too bad the police are so cynical, although I Can see why with every thing that they see.
ReplyDeleteSo what happened next? Did he escort them home and wake you guys up to tell you what they were doing?
Oh my goodness that's horrible! How scary! What a great deed your daughter and her friend did. I feel more and more lately that police are just not there as much like they used to be. I see the loss of interest in the real sense of community service. Thank you for stopping by my blog and following, I am following you back!
ReplyDeleteGod Bless,
Annamaria
So there is actually a law there that forbid kids hang around on the street after midnight? wow...I mean, although that police sounds like a jerk, but I am still amazed with the curfew law. I don't think we have it here in the country that I am staying at right now nor in my home country.
ReplyDeleteThat is too bad....maybe they are faced with so many bad situations everyday...that is hard for them to see something positive coming from two teenagers...but good for your daughter!!!
ReplyDelete