In Some Situations, You Need to Call the Cops Immediately
Video Transcribed: the Tulsa Fathers Rights Attorney, joined here with Oklahoma Fathers Rights Attorney Brian Jackson. We are the Tulsa Father’s Rights team here in Tulsa County, Oklahoma.
And we’ve done a few videos about child welfare services. We want to talk to you a little bit more about when you need to call the cops on it. And sometimes calling DHS just isn’t going to cut it. And Brian, you want to take from me?
Yeah, there are some situations where you do need to get law enforcement involved immediately. And there are a couple of reasons for that. One of them is that the police are available at times when sometimes DHS will not be available on the scene. And you may want to preserve a record of what happened.
The classic example is what we talked about last time with the DUI. You go to do a custody exchange, it’s nine o’clock in the evening and she’s trashed and she’s drunk off her butt. You need to call law enforcement about that immediately.
There’s the welfare of your child issues there, but there are also legal issues there where you want to preserve a record that yeah, she was wasted and that’s the best way to do it. Another example is if you’re talking about really serious abuse like a child comes home with bruises all over their body. There’s a cigarette burn. The child says they were touched.
You need to report that to law enforcement asap because any other … any additional measures you take, like going to DHS, hiring a lawyer, and whatnot. Those generally speaking are going to have some potential timing restrictions on them, if you’re talking about an incident that happened at a time when it’s not normal courthouse hours, not normal business hours.
The police are always available and they’ll preserve a wrapper for you. Obviously, if you are doing something you’re not supposed to be doing, they’re not going to discriminate about, “Well, we’re going to bust her and not you.”
But, if it’s a serious situation like that, you do want to call the police. Another example too, is you may be in a position, and it’s going to probably cause your child a problem. But if you become aware of delinquency, you may be in a position where you need to report that to the police, rather than risk being accused of contributing to it. It’s bad … it’s a tough thing to contemplate, but there are situations where that becomes necessary, rather than allowing the situation to escalate into charges for your child and charges for you.
And that’s a tough call and there are a lot of tough calls out there that you’ve got to consider, especially when you’re talking to the police. And so if you are concerned about your own liability, potentially criminal liability, give us a call.
We’re happy to talk over your situation with you before you make a decision. Obviously, we’re here to help you protect your kid. That and Brian Jackson of the Tulsa Rights team here in Tulsa Oklahoma.
