What does the police want/expect me to do in this situation?

geoffky

Fluff15 wrote: »

. It really bothers me that people are allowed to reoffend.

Please explain this? How could anyone stop them unless you kill people because even in prison they can re-offend.

CATS

Part of me says yes teach them a lesson, the other part says why should I use my lovely son to teach them a lesson by putting him through a system that might make him feel like he did something wrong. To be honest I don't want my baby's name in the system even if it is as a witness. I am not afraid of them being "after" my son as I doubt they will show their faces where he hangs around again as a lot of his friends are not happy about what they did. I have spoken to them and told them to please don't get involved by seeking revenge. As they are already known to the police, out on bail, I can't see what lesson they will learn from this. In a way I also don't want my son seeing that you can get away with things even if taken to court as they will most likely get a fine, and he will lose faith in the system so young. I would rather he continued to think that something really bad will happen if you commit a crime.
Of course I will do what he wants but I need to explain everything to him.

So when the police calls, do I just say we are not going to pursue it and would just like the bike back?

ifstar

NAR wrote: »

And you base this on what???

At least one of the boys has been in trouble before and been in court. Based on the evidence of previous court appearances PPS would almost certainly put the boy(s) in court to face a charge.

OK I'll rephrase it, he might well go to a juvenile court but that is nowhere near the experience of going to a proper court. They will be more concerned with help and support for the thief as the victim.

geoffky

Just say after careful consideration we as a family have decided not to proceed..Do not mention bike as they might use that as leverage against you..Let them mention the bike.

susancs

CATS wrote: »

Part of me says yes teach them a lesson, the other part says why should I use my lovely son to teach them a lesson by putting him through a system that might make him feel like he did something wrong. To be honest I don't want my baby's name in the system even if it is as a witness. I am not afraid of them being "after" my son as I doubt they will show their faces where he hangs around again as a lot of his friends are not happy about what they did. I have spoken to them and told them to please don't get involved by seeking revenge. As they are already known to the police, out on bail, I can't see what lesson they will learn from this. In a way I also don't want my son seeing that you can get away with things even if taken to court as they will most likely get a fine, and he will lose faith in the system so young. I would rather he continued to think that something really bad will happen if you commit a crime.
Of course I will do what he wants but I need to explain everything to him.

So when the police calls, do I just say we are not going to pursue it and would just like the bike back?

OP, I know it is galling that they don't get punished for the crime, but I would agree with you that you have to think of your lad first and I think he would probably be very worried about the court process. Like you, if it was either of my teenage girls in the same position as your son, l would not put them through it for the sake of a bike.

spacey2012

If you drop it, the police can not really do anything other than ask them nicely to give the bike back or instruct you it is a civil matter.
So they may just sell the bike, then decide that he is an easy target and see what else they can get from him.

19lottie82

spacey2012 wrote: »

If you drop it, the police can not really do anything other than ask them nicely to give the bike back or instruct you it is a civil matter.
So they may just sell the bike, then decide that he is an easy target and see what else they can get from him.

"They" don't have the bike. The police do. There is no dispute that it belongs to the OP's DS.

Fluff15

geoffky wrote: »

Please explain this? How could anyone stop them unless you kill people because even in prison they can re-offend.

Allowed probably wasn't the right word, although I can't think of another one to fit. In my opinion, anybody could commit a crime, but the punishment should be severe enough to discourage them completely from committing another. However I do understand that it would be very difficult (if not impossible) to ascertain the level of punishment suitable for each individual. For example, I have access to the spare keys of the company cars, and nothing is physically stopping me right now taking them and selling them to thieves and driving off with the cars; but the idea of losing my job, having a criminal record and going to prison is enough to stop me from doing so. It also goes against my morals, but criminals who do commit crimes already have a squiffy moral radar anyway.

Caitlin_Bree

In opposition with pretty much everybody else here, I would say your child should go to court if necessary...In four years time, he could be doing jury service, and you're effectively teaching him that justice is a great ideal, but not worth going to the effort of if it impacts you adversely.

People (not you.. well maybe you.. I don't know) are so quick to complain about the state of the justice system in this country, but if people refuse to actually get involved when required, the whole system can only fail.

My brother had his bike stolen when he was about the same age and just gave a statement to the police. As far as I remember, the statement was enough in the way of witness testimony and he was not required to attend court.

He also got his bike back quite soon after. The thief was seen getting on a train with it and the police had it stopped and arrested him. If my brother did have to wait to get his bike back, I don't think it took the police long to return it.
And there were no repercussions.

Lara44

I agree with this so much ^^^^^^^