What to do if the child got to the police

Of course, you can reassure yourself that "well, with my child, this will never happen." But in fact, anyone can get into the police, and in this situation, you need to act quickly and very accurately understand what to do. For a start, it is important to understand why the child was in the police and not to panic.

1.Why can a child get into the police?

Before we talk about what to do when the child got into the police department, we should dwell on how well she got there. In most cases this is connected with the child (minor / minor) committing an administrative misdemeanor or crime.

For a clearer understanding, it should be noted that “misconduct” and “crime” are socially dangerous acts, however, they differ in their degree of public danger, for example: “crime” is an offense, the composition of which is indicated in the criminal code;

“Misdemeanor” is an offense, which, unlike a crime, is a minor unlawful act for which administrative responsibility is provided.

Therefore, it should be said, for administrative offenses can punish minors aged 16 to 18 years. The Criminal Code of Ukraine also establishes age limits in bringing to criminal responsibility, namely, 16 years (although responsibility is established for certain crimes for persons older than 14 years).

Parents are not criminally liable for crimes committed by minor and minor children. As regards the parents of children-offenders, today only a punishment in the form of an insignificant fine is provided, carried out within the framework of administrative punishment.

However, parents are subject to civil liability for harm caused by young and under-age children, including those resulting from misconduct / crime.

2. On the protection of young children and adolescents:

Back in 1985, Ukraine signed the International Treaty, under which it pledged to comply with the UN Standard Minimum Standard Rules - aimed at providing maximum assistance to ensure the well-being of minors, which will minimize the need for intervention by the juvenile justice system and, in turn, will reduce the damage which can be caused by any intervention at all.

Another important international document - the “Convention on the Rights of the Child”, adopted by the 44th session of the UN General Assembly in 1989 and ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on February 27, 1991, contains a humane provision for applying a preventive measure to a minor. According to Article 37 of the Convention “the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child is carried out in accordance with the law and is used only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time”

3. On the duties of the police:

If we take a deeper and compare the above provisions with national legislation, we see that the Law of Ukraine “On the National Police” contains the following provisions:

A survey of minors is allowed only with the participation of parents (one of them), another legal representative or teacher;
The police officer is obliged to immediately inform the parents or adoptive parents, guardians, custodians, the guardianship authority about the whereabouts of the minor.
That is, if the child is detained by the police, the latter must inform his parents about it - this is the duty of the police.

Already on this basis, the parents arrive at the place where the policemen are summoned and pick up their child, followed by instructions from the police officers.

4. How to behave parents:

But the main thing is that parents do not need to panic, because if a child commits an offense, then you need to understand "on a cold head", usually the child cannot be arbitrarily detained, and therefore police officers simply did their job, and parents should conduct more educational work with your children.

5. About the behavior of children:

In turn, children also need to understand that the fact of detention is far from a joke; no need to be self-assured that parents will come now and decide everything. You should follow the rules of proper behavior and show respect both to others and to police officers, because both malicious disobedience to the requirements of a police officer and others - all this can be an excuse for parents to solve problems, they can still be brought to justice. This was said above.

6. What to do if your child is missing:

“My child will not be lost,” “The daughter will not move far from home,” “The son will always return on time,” mothers are confident that their child will not disappear, will not run away and will not have to look for him. But children disappear not only from disadvantaged families. It is important to know what to do if the child is missing in a public place, from home or outside the city - says Olga Obladan, a lawyer at Mozhaev & Partners Law Firm.

First of all, you need to get together and calm down as much as possible.

If a child disappears in a public place, you must immediately notify the guard, the administration of the organization, enterprises, institutions. It is necessary to begin to control the input-output, check the restroom, parking lot, utility rooms, announce on the speakerphone about the loss, while indicating the external description of the child and the presence of other special signs.

Get in touch with family, relatives, with anyone who can help with something. Start to call everyone, but from a different phone number, as you can call the child himself or the person whose information can help in the search.

Try to remember where and when you last saw the child, what he told you about, where you would most likely go or go.

If the child has disappeared from the house ("escaped"), review all his things, records.

Both in the first and in the second case, you must immediately contact the police. An application or message can be issued in writing or orally by calling the telephone number of the special line “102”. A statement or report about the disappearance of a child is accepted by the police on the day of the appeal of citizens, regardless of the place where the person disappeared.

Also, the Ministry of the Interior has created a common base for the missing. The portal contains information about lost things, weapons, has a base of unidentified corpses and a base of persons who can not provide information about themselves (missing children, the sick and the elderly).

If the child disappeared outside the city or in the village, you can independently organize search groups and take into account the terrain features, in particular, if there is a forest nearby, you should examine the surrounding area with a loudspeaker, if there are bodies of water, you should seek help from divers.

We sincerely hope that you will not have to go through the situations described above, but if this happens, please contact our AB Prikhodko and Partners, where you will always be listened to and provided with qualified legal assistance.