Who Is Protecting Our Children?

[Sister Golden Hair]

Who is Protecting Our Children

Late in the afternoon, on September 19th, my co-worker witnessed cruelness beyond belief in the form of child abuse, followed by a second cruelness in that a Hattiesburg Police officer demonstrated a total lack of regard and perception for a serious situation.

After leaving work on Wednesday, she was driving through the Old Navy parking lot, looking for a parking place, when she witnessed a woman pulling a seven or eight year old child out of a white Ford Explorer with Jones County plates. The woman proceeded to slap, hit and beat the child. The child was screaming in terror as the woman bashed its head into the side of the car. She was stunned. She got out of her car as the woman was locking the child back into the hot car. The woman went into one of the stores in the shopping center. While walking toward the car to check on the child, another on-looker, as stunned as she was, asked her if she was going to call 911. She was already dialing. When the police officer arrived the woman was already out of the store, waiting on another passenger to come out. The officer approached the woman and spent no longer than three minutes talking to her AND LEFT. He didn’t attempt to speak to any of the witnessed. They were clearly available for comment. She was appalled. IShecalled 911 again and the officer was sent back to the scene and explained to her that the woman stated the child had a handicap, she couldn’t help that the child “acted up” and that she was not the mother of the child. He said didn’t do anything because he didn’t know “the whole situation.”

Here is my question, and my co-worker asked the police officer this as well: What did the fact that the child had a handicap have to do with the woman’s excuse for hitting the child? If parents aren’t going to protect their children, shouldn’t the child have a reasonable expectation that Law Enforcement would protect it? Does Law Enforcement not have a responsibility to at least notify the parents of the allegation? This poor child’s caretaker has let it down and the travesty was compounded by the officer’s complete disregard for the child’s safety. Now, the child must realize that it is own it’s own. There was no one there to shield that child from the hands of its abuser. I wonder how the child felt when the officer walked away.

When citizens see these type things occur, we are instructed to call the appropriate authorities, “Don’t take matters into your own hands.” Are they going to come? Maybe. Are they going to protect the helpless? They dropped the ball yesterday. Who is protecting our children? What is becoming of our world?

[pEtAl mIsFiT]

that is awful...

[rileysmom]

That story made my stomach turn. I cannot imagine witnessing something like this, then having to watch the officer leave. I wonder if your friend got the officer's name. This should be reported to his superior. I do hope that child will be okay. It is truly a sad thing that people think it is okay to harm a child.

[threekidspa]

Maybe you could take it to the local news?

[jkspatty]

Or write a letter to the editor. This is so sad, I pray this poor child is ok.

[Sister Golden Hair]

I helped the friend write a letter to the editor- this thread is a synopsis of the letter. I don't ever want to forget that we may be the only voice a helpless victim might have!

[CrzyHrseOwnr]

Beating a child is most definitely a horrible thing but a handicap child is inexcusable.
But why didn't you flag the officer down explain what you had witnessed. Did you notify dispatch that the woman was back in the car with the child, she could have cranked up and left. If you as a witness does not step up to the plate and identify yourself and explain your side of the story all the officer can do is check the child, and ask what is going on. If the abusive party and the victim says nothing and there are no other signs of abuse, there is nothing he can do. Yet you sit back in the corner and watch this officer leave, with out saying a word...I would say your are just as wrong as he is. An officer job is not easy and it is not as cut and dry as you may think.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Beating a child is most definitely a horrible thing but a handicap child is inexcusable.
But why didn't you flag the officer down explain what you had witnessed. Did you notify dispatch that the woman was back in the car with the child, she could have cranked up and left. If you as a witness does not step up to the plate and identify yourself and explain your side of the story all the officer can do is check the child, and ask what is going on. If the abusive party and the victim says nothing and there are no other signs of abuse, there is nothing he can do. Yet you sit back in the corner and watch this officer leave, with out saying a word...I would say your are just as wrong as he is. An officer job is not easy and it is not as cut and dry as you may think.

Perhaps you may need to reread my post.

[BlueDogDemocrat]

Just today, actually, about 2 hours ago, I was in the parking lot of a local drug store. I parked next to a car that was playing very, VERY loud music, you know the whole booming sound system deal. Well, that was fine, whatever, until I looked into the back seat of the car and noticed there was a CHILD (probably 1 year old) screaming crying.....not that the "parents" would have heard it or known it.

I politelly told the BOY that If he didn't turn off that damn music, I was going to take the child or the speakers out of his car, it was his choice.

He must have loved his sound system. He turned of the music...at least until I left.

Children are all to often silent victims to all kinds of abuse.

[LipsofanAngel]

Working as an adolescent counselor has opened my naiive little eyes to the cruelty of the world.

I won't get started on how much DHS sickens me... I don't see how they're allowed to keep their jobs.

[CrzyHrseOwnr]

I did read your post and it does not mention you flagging the officer down or in anyway trying to get his attention, you let him leave. Most callers of this type of call fail to give names and call back numbers they would rather remain anonymous. If you did try to flag him down, and he ignored you then I apoligize. Any way it is a serious matter and needs to be investigated, I'm sure with it involving a child his supervisors will check it out.

[BlueDogDemocrat]

I did read your post and it does not mention you flagging the officer down or in anyway trying to get his attention, you let him leave. Most callers of this type of call fail to give names and call back numbers they would rather remain anonymous. If you did try to flag him down, and he ignored you then I apoligize. Any way it is a serious matter and needs to be investigated, I'm sure with it involving a child his supervisors will check it out.


What the hell would be accomplished by flagging the officer down after he had already made the decision to leave in three minutes and end the investigation? They called the police, reported what they saw occur, and I applaud them doing only that. The woman properly assumed the law would handle the intervention. Not everyone has the confidence to personally interject in these matters, as I did today. Back off her.

[Sister Golden Hair]

The officer walked away from the woman and got into his car without even greeting the bystanders. She was unaware that he was leaving the scene. She immediately called 911 back ( as I wrote in my post.)

This isn't a thread to antagonize law officers. It is here to bring to light one particular incident.

Don't you think that when a person has reported a crime, that they have a reasonable expectation that the officer will fully investigate it? She called in the type of vehicle, tag number- all of the information she could attain without knowing the woman personally.

How can you say that it the witness was just as at fault as the officer was- the citizen did her job!

[Sister Golden Hair]

and you must notta read it real well- "I" didn't have anything to do with it!

[rileysmom]

My understanding of the initial post is that her COWORKER witnessed the event, not her. The coworker and another woman talked with the officer and he told them he could not do anything. Am I mistaken? I think you need to lay off her as well.

[Sister Golden Hair]

No Rileysmom- you are not mistaken-

[countrygirl]

Flowergirl,
I applaud you for trying to take up for the child. Did you happen to get the tag number of the individual? If so, you can still call in the the MS child abuse hotline. Their number is 1-800-222-8000. Here is a link to the MDHS website that explains that they will investigate. They don't always do anything, but at least the person becomes aware that others are watching them.

http://www.mdhs.state.ms.us/fcs_prot.html

[Sister Golden Hair]

Thanks countrygirl- I didn't see it- my dear friend and co-worker did. She should be applauded.

[LipsofanAngel]

I'll go ahead an warn you... unless you know the name, adress, and phone number of the abuser... and even pictures of bruises, etc.- DHS will only whine at you rather than applauding you for trying to make a difference in the world and potentially save the life of a child. arrggghhhh... my blood pressure is going up.

[Petalgirl]

I am one of the women that witnessed this. Myself and the other witness stood approx. 10 yards from the officer, we watched him pull up, (approx. 20 minutes after we called) he got out, walked up to the drivers side where the lady was now sitting, spoke to her VERY briefly and walked back towards his car. The next thing I knew he was pulling off. I immediatly called 911 back and had the officer to return and talk to us. He showed up about 15 minutes later pulled up to where we were standing rolled down his passenger side window and spoke to us. I asked him what happened. He stated the lady told him the child had a disability, that was her reasoning for the behavior. I could not beleive what I was hearing, he had a very unconcerned attitude. I told him that the child was crying, the lady was yelling at the child, she slapped her in the arm, backhanded her in the face, then took the child by the hair and hit her head into the car. I told him that this was in no way a childs fit. This was abuse. He stated to me that this was not that womens child, I told him I did not care who the child belonged to, it was a child and she deserved to be protected. He stated the child looked fine, I asked him how in the world could he tell that, the windows were slightly tinted and she was in the back seat. I asked him why he did not come talk to us, he stated he thought we were just people in the parking lot. (we were standing there staring at them for god sake) I told the dispacher that I spoke to that I would be right there. I had already prepared myself if they left before he got there I was following them. I wanted something done. It was ridiculous! The final thing I told the officer was that if something happened to that girl that would be on him. I feel I did all that I could do, I tried to help the child and the officer let her down. I would be real surprised if he even got her name. And beleive me if I had known the officer was leaving I would have chased him down, I was in aw before I knew it he was gone. This is what is wrong, I bet if I would of called that a dog was locked in the car in 90 degree heat the person would of at least got a ticket.

[fuzzis]

In the officer's defense, many times, people stand and stare. It's in our nature to gawk when we think someone else is getting in trouble. Unless you identified yourself as having been a witness, how was he supposed to know that you had information or were just another rubber-necker?

And without someone saying, no...that's not what happened, what does he have to go on?

[Sister Golden Hair]

Is it clearer to you now Crzyhrseownr?

[Sister Golden Hair]

In the officer's defense, many times, people stand and stare. It's in our nature to gawk when we think someone else is getting in trouble. Unless you identified yourself as having been a witness, how was he supposed to know that you had information or were just another rubber-necker?

And without someone saying, no...that's not what happened, what does he have to go on?

Maybe the call in to dispatch that described the incident, the tag number and location, as wellas the witnesses name and phone number.

[fuzzis]

Maybe the call in to dispatch that described the incident, the tag number and location, as wellas the witnesses name and phone number.

Does the officer get all of that information when a call goes out? (I honestly don't know)

I get that you all are upset...and I would be too...but I think that in all cases, there's more than one side of the story.

[countrygirl]

If that happened to an adult, it would be considered assualt....I'm not against a good spat on the behind for a misbehaving child, but is this not assualt because it happened to a child?

[Sister Golden Hair]

Perhaps, Fuzzis, he didn't get all the info, perhaps he did. If he didn't maybe this forum will prompt the powers that be to better inform officers of situations in the field.

[jkspatty]

Did the officer ask any of the "gawkers" or "rubberneckers" if they saw anything or wanted to give a statement? Or, did he just talk to the person who hit the child?

[Sister Golden Hair]

He just talked with the person who hit the child and left abruptly.

[countrygirl]

Working as an adolescent counselor has opened my naiive little eyes to the cruelty of the world.

I won't get started on how much DHS sickens me... I don't see how they're allowed to keep their jobs.

I understand where you are coming from. Even though I'm retired, I still wonder about what happened to some kids For example, I remember one child in particular..He was a 13 year old non-reader. He had basically never attended school. He was really a kind of bright kid. He could answer my questions if I presented them orally and didn't expect him to read a test or write his answers. I only had him for about 6 weeks while he lived with his grandmother. He had several younger siblings, all with different last names, that lived with their mother. The younger siblings had been removed from the mother's home at one time and then returned to her. I remember getting up on I think a Sunday morning and reading about his younger siblings dying in a trailer fire right here in the Pine Belt Area. I never saw the older brother again, but I still wonder what happened to him..

[XC9]

This was not handled properly. We must always remember that what you tell dispatch doesn't always get transmitted to the officers properly. It would have been a decent thing for the officer to have removed the child from the vehicle to check for signs before making a decision to leave. If her head was knocked into the vehicle she would have had marks on her. Wether the child belonged to the lady or not should not have been an issue. Abuse is abuse no matter who is dishing it out. I hope the poor child didn't get the he// beat out of her later for this problem. I would probably call Misenhelter and ask (demand) him to make a call to D.H.S. just to be on the safe side. It couldn't hurt. I think if you share the info you have with him he can go back on the 911 tape and get the tag number and go from there. You have done a wonderful job just being concerned enough to do the right thing and I applaud you for that.

[Maggie-Doodle]

If that happened to an adult, it would be considered assualt....I'm not against a good spat on the behind for a misbehaving child, but is this not assualt because it happened to a child?

It is considered an assault regardeless of the age of the victim. IMO, this probably happened because of inexperience...you have to remember "most" of the officers are rookies and are still learning. Please don't get me wrong...I am not taking up for the officer in this case...just trying to explain that sometimes a young officer will not thoroughly question a suspect nor take action because he really doesn't know what to do...for that matter I have seen seasoned officers do the same.

Had I responded to the call, I would have gotten the child out and checked him/her over with a fine tooth comb...I would also have gotten the child off to himself and asked him what happened. I seldom found a child to lie to me when questioned about something that had scared them or put them in danger...not saying they don't but in my experience they usually were honest with me. Something as serious as that I would have written a short report if for nothing else to CMA! I also would have questioned anyone who was standing around looking. I just think this was a case of poor police procedure all the way around. Charges could have been simple assault on a minor or child abuse.

[hereiam]

I'm not sure about MS but where I'm from if you see child abuse and don't report it you are held just as responsible as the abuser. You can go to jail for 6 mo. if you fail to report. I know if I were to see someone do that I would call the cops, follow the abuser and if the person tried to leave, I'd find a way to stay. I have in the past seen people smack their kids in front of me in the grocery line and I can't help but say something. Usually I get told to stay out of their business. Then we start the conversation of how every childs safety is my business and if you're going to be bold enough to abuse them in public God only knows what you do at home. It gets a little interesting sometimes but I've found God always gives me the right words so I don't sound like an idiot. And I leave that situation knowing that child sees that they aren't alone and that one day they may talk to a teach, neighbor... hopefully it opens their eyes that there are people that care, even if I can't get anything done at that time.

[dyates]

My husband and I experienced a situation similar to this. A "mother" apparently felt she needed to get her nails done and left 5 children ranging from the ages of infancy to about 8 years old unattended outside in the car while she sat her sorry ass in the nail shop.

We were eating at Pepper's and we all know how busy that parking lot can be. The older children were climbing on top of the car..sliding down the windshield and running all over the place. At one point the older child took the infant out of the car and threw it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The baby didn't look to be much older than a few months.

Neither of us had a cell phone so we notified the manager at the time and he walked out to see what was going on and acted like "oh well not my problem" and walked back in. At that point my husband walked in and demanded someone call the police. We had no idea where the mother was at this time.

The police showed up about 20 minutes later, the kids had already walked around the corner of Pepper's running back and forth playing in the parking lot...so when the cops arrived they had to go look for the kids. The mother had walked out of the shop by this time. The 2 officers questioned her a bit...we overheard them making an issue about her not having insurance on the vehicle.

The mother was pissed, acting as if it was no big deal that she had left them unattended. She started ranting and raving ( good enough reason to arrest her right there) but did they? NO, they left. I sat there going WTF?! Just in shock.

People like this don't deserve to breathe. I have no sympathy for this kind of shit. I don't give a damn about people like this and I don't even consider them human beings. People like this should be removed off the face of this earth.

[dyates]

Good for you hereiam. There needs to be more people like you. Most people don't want to get involved and I agree in some situations but when it comes to a child they are at the mercy of whoever.

[bpitt]

Where I come from, if you see a kid getting abused, you confront the person doing it, whether that means calling law enforcement or kicking their ass yourself.

[threekidspa]

Seems to me that when she slammed the kid's head into the car, someone could have justified using lethal force on the woman if they were so inclined....just thinking...

[Sister Golden Hair]

I know what you are saying threekidspa. I will confront someone being abusive to anyone in a New York minute, but not everyone can.

[queenrey]

Who is Protecting Our Children

Late in the afternoon, on September 19th, my co-worker witnessed cruelness beyond belief in the form of child abuse, followed by a second cruelness in that a Hattiesburg Police officer demonstrated a total lack of regard and perception for a serious situation.

After leaving work on Wednesday, she was driving through the Old Navy parking lot, looking for a parking place, when she witnessed a woman pulling a seven or eight year old child out of a white Ford Explorer with Jones County plates. The woman proceeded to slap, hit and beat the child. The child was screaming in terror as the woman bashed its head into the side of the car. She was stunned. She got out of her car as the woman was locking the child back into the hot car. The woman went into one of the stores in the shopping center. While walking toward the car to check on the child, another on-looker, as stunned as she was, asked her if she was going to call 911. She was already dialing. When the police officer arrived the woman was already out of the store, waiting on another passenger to come out. The officer approached the woman and spent no longer than three minutes talking to her AND LEFT. He didn’t attempt to speak to any of the witnessed. They were clearly available for comment. She was appalled. IShecalled 911 again and the officer was sent back to the scene and explained to her that the woman stated the child had a handicap, she couldn’t help that the child “acted up” and that she was not the mother of the child. He said didn’t do anything because he didn’t know “the whole situation.”

Here is my question, and my co-worker asked the police officer this as well: What did the fact that the child had a handicap have to do with the woman’s excuse for hitting the child? If parents aren’t going to protect their children, shouldn’t the child have a reasonable expectation that Law Enforcement would protect it? Does Law Enforcement not have a responsibility to at least notify the parents of the allegation? This poor child’s caretaker has let it down and the travesty was compounded by the officer’s complete disregard for the child’s safety. Now, the child must realize that it is own it’s own. There was no one there to shield that child from the hands of its abuser. I wonder how the child felt when the officer walked away.

When citizens see these type things occur, we are instructed to call the appropriate authorities, “Don’t take matters into your own hands.” Are they going to come? Maybe. Are they going to protect the helpless? They dropped the ball yesterday. Who is protecting our children? What is becoming of our world?



what i don't understand is that the officer did not make any attempt to even look and question the child and to attempt to see if there were any marks on the child. I understand that the child is small but they could have looked at the child and seen the marks on How come they did not call dhs and advise them of the situation at hand? This is a very scary situation. But if someone was to try to interfer in defense of the child what would happen to them? Would they listen to you advising them what was actually going on or would they tell you that you should mind your own business? the poor children are the ones that are getting hurt. where was the mother during all of this and why was she not even contacted in ref to something involving her MINOR CHILD!!!!! i would at least think that they would have tried to contact the mother. and the fact that they didn't know the whole situation was no excuse especially when it involves a small child and contacting the mother advising what her child had been involved in. now we have to wonder what the lady told the mother of the child.....................this is scary