kids terrorising elderly people

hunnie

"Have they spoken to the parents of the children?"

It is quite probable that they don't know who the parents are or where they live. Also parents can be very defensive of their children and unwilling to help.


I had repeated trouble from senior school children in my shop. I managed to take a photo of one but it was blurred and the police /school said they couldn't identify from it, but they didn't say I shouldn't have taken it.
However the police did speak to/at the school and the trouble mostly stopped.
This was September/October last year so it may start again with a new intake and the darker nights combined with Halloween/bonfire night which always seems to be synonymous with problems.

moneyistooshorttomention

BucksLady wrote: »

A few years ago, an elderly man living a few doors away from parents, became the victim of abuse from some local children. When he was out tending his garden they would shoot at him with water pistols. One day my mum found him outside crying, which was so sad. My parents told his son who caught the kids in the act one afternoon. The following day he presented himself at the school which the children attended and explained the situation to the Head Teacher. He had taken a number of photographs and the children were identified. The children admitted to their crime, the parents were called in to discuss the matter, and the poor man received an apology. There has been no trouble since - thank goodness.

I haven't a clue about the 'legality' of the son taking the photos - but his course of actions worked for his dad.

Good for them:T

I had wondered whether it would be possible to approach the head teacher of the "little darlings" school and ask them to take action, but was wondering whether that would result in a bout of wimpishness on part of the head teacher under the guise of "political correctness" (the catch-all excuse for many things these days it seems:().

Do congratulate your parents for me for having done this:A

moomoomama27

I would go for a cheap CCTV camera and catch the little !!!!!!s!!

That's absolute rubbish what the police officer told you, if that's the case then any child under what 16,18 can do what they like without any consequences!!??

PintAndAPie

BucksLady wrote: »

I haven't a clue about the 'legality' of the son taking the photos - but his course of actions worked for his dad.

There is no law that says that you cannot film or photograph children. If they are in a public place then they, and anyone else, can quite legally be filmed or photographed. The only restrictions that could be applied are for national security and decency.

summerspring

Sometimes the Police can be lazy or they just fob people off. I'm sure you can aim a cctv camera at your property. You can't aim it at someone, because that would then be surveillance, but you can aim it at a whole area, in this case the garden.

They also should not have just said "there's nothing we can do" if vulnerable elderly people are being threatened or targeted. I'd get a 2nd opinion or take it further if I were you OP.

kingfisherblue

You are entitled to mount CCTV covering your own land, but you may have to put up a sign saying that you are recording. A friend of mine has CCTV and had to put up a sign, but whether this is a local bylaw or a national requirement, I'm not sure.


As well as ringing the police, keep a written log of all incidents, including date and time, number of youths, brief descriptions if possible, and what happened. This will help to show repeated incidents. Also, if it is social housing and you suspect that the kids are local, you could approach the housing company. Anti-social behaviour is taken seriously by at least some housing associations.


Contact your local PCSOs and ask that they patrol the area - if there is a time period in which the incidents regularly occur, then the kids might be 'caught in the act', so to speak.

harrys_dad

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Good for them:T

I had wondered whether it would be possible to approach the head teacher of the "little darlings" school and ask them to take action, but was wondering whether that would result in a bout of wimpishness on part of the head teacher under the guise of "political correctness" (the catch-all excuse for many things these days it seems:().

Do congratulate your parents for me for having done this:A

What a load of tosh. Firstly, out of school time and off the school premises these children are the responsibility of their parents. Having said that, when informed of inappropriate behaviour by some of their pupils away from the school site almost every head teacher would do something, subject to the provision of appropriate evidence. What they wouldn't do is give out the names and addresses based on photographic evidence, but they might contact the parents directly, and would also give names and addresses to the police if they indicated a crime had been committed. If they were fairly certain it was pupils from their school but could not identify them then they would most probably speak to the whole school.

I suspect you get your ideas about "political correctness" from made up stories in the Daily Mail.

pmlindyloo

It is not against the law to take photographs of children.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography_and_the_law

I would take the photographs and then do a bit of detective work to find out where they live. Ask around the neighbours type of thing.

It is the parents who are responsible for their children's behaviour and they should be the first people to approach. If they are uncooperative/abusive then the local community officer would be my next port of call.

CCTY is expensive and although an excellent idea should not be necessary Try the other approach first.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

That copper is a plonker! he's also incorrect, you film can ANYONE in a public space and during the process of committing an offence even if that offence is committed by a minor and is a relatively small offence such as breach of peace can be recorded had he made an arrest for "recording a minor in public" he would soon be sent for some much needed re training as his superiors would get really embarrassed being presented with a can of worms.


get as much evidence as you can i say CCTV, phone what ever, if the police arrest you then complaint to IPCC for wrongful arrest simple as that.

newcook

thanks ever so much everyone!! I will tell him to set up a cctv and take photos etc and catch the little s***s!

unfortunately they dont know who the kids parents are