Do not tell naughty children we’ll take them away, say police

Officers want youngsters to see them as ‘friendly faces’ they can turn to if they are lost or in trouble

PARENTS have been asked not to tell children that the police will take them away if they misbehave.

Police in Bournemouth issued the plea after they overheard a parent threaten their child at a Christmas market in the Dorset town with: “Look, the police. They will take you away if you’re naughty.”

The remark prompted a police spokesman to post on social media: “Quite a few parents have been joking with their under-10s [saying] ‘look the police, they will take you away if you’re naughty’. We politely ask that you don’t joke in this way with young children.”

Residents have complained that the post is “too PC” (politically correct), while some have said that the police should focus on fighting crime and preventing antisocial behaviour.

Jacqui Hampson said: “Instead of handing out parenting advice, Bournemouth police want to try handing out some antisocial behaviour orders and banning drug dealers, addicts and alcoholics from public places.” The police, she said, should “stick to [their] own jobs and let parents manage their children”.

Pauline Naylor said it was an example of police being “snowflakes”, while

Kevin Tedder said: “We’re heading towards a society where you can’t say a thing.” Emma Bucknell said she did make similar threats to her children but also encouraged them to approach police if they needed help.

Some residents recalled that their own parents had made similar threats to them during their childhoods and dismissed the warning as “banter”. Others joked that, if a child did commit a crime, police would take “weeks to turn up”’

Some parents were more sympathetic to the police. Sandie Pattemore said: “This has always annoyed me. Children should not be scared to go to the police for help.”

Vikki Hargreaves said: “My son was taught the police were there to help and keep him safe.”

Another resident said: “[I have] always told my daughter the police are here to keep us safe. If people do wrong, then they take them away to keep us safe. Keep up the good work.”

A Dorset Police spokesman said: “The Christmas market is an invaluable opportunity for children to interact with uniformed police officers and increase their understanding that we are here to help them.”

In 2021, Derbyshire Police asked parents to stop “telling children we will take them away”. Its spokesman said: “We spend a lot of time engaging with children to make sure we are a ‘friendly face’ … someone that they can come to if they are lost or in trouble.

“We don’t want them [to be] too afraid to do that. If you see us out and about don’t be afraid to have a chat and engage with us.”

‘Parents have been saying ‘the police will take you away if you’re naughty.’ Please don’t joke in this way with young children’