Not sure what to make of this

The police have taken a child from a family in Dublin, because, it seems, the child looks 'nothing like her siblings'.

The couple who claimed to be her parents showed a birth certificate but the coppers were not satisfied.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24626422

On one hand, if the couple are not really her parents, then it is right that the child should be protected until it is all sorted out, but on the other hand, since when did the coppers become judge and jury, and since when did you have to prove a child was yours rather than the accuser proving otherwise?

I'm not sure what to make of it because obviously the child's welfare is the single most important thing, but what sort of precedent does it set? My son has fair hair, unlike his mother and I who both have very dark hair.

 

When I was a kid I had fair hair, its mostly grey now, but has been dark since I was in my 20s.

 

Until my teens, my hair was chocolate brown in winter, turning almost copper top ginger in summer. Both my parents had very dark brown hair (silver/grey now ).

Parts of my beard still grow ginger to this day.

 

You could say where and when your Son was born and it could be checked very quickly.

The hospital where they claimed their child was born has no record of it.

You, in all likelyhood would still be at the same address in the morning. A travelling family could very easily up sticks overnight and not be found again, so I can see why they acted like they did.

My Dad had black hair & Mum was blonde, I had bright Ginger hair.

 

Just seen on the news that the child in question is their biological child as proved by DNA tests. There was another child too of Roma parents who was removed from the home again in Ireland. This child has been returned to the parents as it was proved again by DNA that the child was theirs. Not good.

 

IMHO it all boils down to - is over reaction better than inaction. I remember a police officer being interviewed on TV - he said it's better to be criticised now for over reacting than to be criticised later for taking no action. I think he was right.

Some of my colleagues are social workers - they do get a 'raw deal' from the press. There's never any mention of the many children that they protect from harm - but then in the view of the press that's just their job I suppose.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...ery-girl-parents_n_4163344.html?ncid=webmail1

 

I kind of agree, except that it is more about politics, statistics and image than it is about actually protecting people.

Is it entirely coincidental that two blonde kids were taken from their families within days of each other, and within days of the Madeline MacCann case making it back into the limelight?

In the case of the other kid, taken from a Roma family in Greece, coppers found the natural parents in a completely different country (Bulgaria) which proves that if the coppers want to find someone, they usually can, and the natural parents in that case corroborated the story of the adoptive parents that the child was taken from. Ok, so they didn't do things by the book, but maybe those involved didn't feel they could trust the system. I can understand that. What I can't understand (and I'm genuinely glad I'm not in a position to understand) is how a parent can voluntarily give their child away, believing that in doing so, the child will have a better chance in life. Decisions like that must be truly heart breaking to make, and I can't believe such decisions would ever be taken lightly.

In the case we're on about here, the parents were proved to be the natural parents of the child that was taken. If it hadn't been the authorities that had taken the child, it would have been a plain and straightforward case of child abduction. The child was taken because she didn't look like a Roma. If there had been genuine cause for concern, then perhaps the parents and child should have been taken into custody together until it was all sorted. Even that would have been shocking but at least it would be less traumatic for all concerned than simply snatching the child.

Personally, I'm more worried about the precedent it sets rather than details of individual cases. Can we expect more kids to be taken for no good reason? Will it be a repeat of that dreadful situation from the 1980s when loads of kids were taken from their parents on the incorrect and unjustified assumption that they were being abused? Or will it only (for now) affect one particular section of society, a section that for some reason we are still legally allowed to think of as an underclass?

In the 1930s to the mid 1940s there was a nutcase in Europe who decided it was ok to persecute people whose face didn't fit. He somehow amassed a lot of support, and the result was one of the darkest periods in human history. All that started from simple beginnings. I only hope this is nipped firmly in the bud, with a full investigation as to how it happened, with full public disclosure, and a public apology to the family, and assurances that it wont happen again unless of course there is genuine reason to believe there is an imminent threat.

Also, as for coppers being criticised for acting vs being criticised for doing nothing, I once had the coppers round here accusing me and wife of beating up some girl. They stomped around the house without a warrant, nearly woke my son up which would have traumatised him, saw my wife naked when they burst into the bedroom as she was getting up to see what was going on. I cooperated naturally because I wanted them to find the alleged victim if she was in real danger, but I knew nothing. It ended when I overheard a radio conversation between one of the coppers and the control room which confirmed that they knew as much as an hour earlier that the girl who the mobile phone was registered to had not lived at this address for over a year. They knew this before coming to harass me, but decided to do it anyway, and they enjoyed it. I challenged them about it and they admitted as such, practically called me scum (I think the exact words were 'you have to understand in our job we deal with a lot of scum') and threatened to arrest me anyway when, while sitting down on my sofa in my living room I bollocked them for wasting time talking to me when there is a woman in potential danger that needs to be found. They still didn't go at this point, choosing instead to argue. They wanted me to stand up to throw them out but I knew that if I did, they would nick me for assault, so I remained calm and seated and politely but firmly suggested that they get out of my house, do the job they are paid to do, and go and find the lass that phoned them.

I have no faith in coppers I'm afraid.

 

What a terrible experience for you and yours Clue. No wonder you have a bias now but I hope they will repay you one day by genuinely helping in times of trouble.
I think many of us have had occasion to dislike police for one reason or another. I know I have. I try not to let it influence me in making judgement now but I do understand it is difficult to put it behind you,
Jenny

 

Had the same, Its not nice beening accused of some thing you do not know anything about

 

That would have been a far more sensible approach, seems strange that they took the child away but left the people they were accusing of child abduction free to do a runner if they really had

 

Copper accused me of drinking illegal beers once, didn't like it when I laughed and asked him what exactly an illegal beer was, took my name and address and threatened to do me for any crime that had happened in Guildford that night.

 

Had similar experiences, just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but at least I didn't experience them sticking a flick knife into my chest as my brother did.

 

The coppers stabbed your Brother?