[Batesmotel]

A friend was at family dinner last night at his fathers. A bad argument broke out and accusations were made about his wife. She was being blamed for their sons birth defect. He packed up his wife and kids and left before things got physical.

The family called the cops claiming he left in a rage and he was a danger to his kids. Cop showed up at his house and ordered him to return to his fathers house so they could all sort everything out. He refused and slammed the door on the cop. Today he finds out he might be facing charges for disobeying the orders of a police officer. A detective is coming today to take his statement.

Can a cop order someone to return to a place where no crime was committed? Any suggestions?

 

[IndyGunFreak]

So... how much alcohol was involved?

As to whether they can do that or not... I dunno. Sounds kinda shady to me. They might be sending a detective over just to try and glean some info from him regarding the situation, rather than actually pursuing charges.

I'm not sure I'd give a statement w/o legal counsel in that situation though.

 

[Cav]

Well I will guess we dont know what the caller stated happened, or the parties at that location stated occured.

Also do not know exactly what the 'suspect' said or did.

 

[RVER]

Can a cop order someone to return to a place where no crime was committed? Any suggestions?

Can he? He did and your friend didn't go. So moving on to should he? That may depend on the state, reservation, territory or heck even country. Don't let it wreck your weekend, you only get four of them a month...

Edited to say: I'm not being an *****. Police deal with this type of situation often times several times per shift and chances are that they won't over react. Unfortunately if your friends father stated that he left in a rage and was a danger to his kids AND your friend reacted to the officer by slamming the door rather discussing the situation further maybe the agency has a legitimate concern that may need to be cleared up. Don't let it wreck your weekend, you only get four of them a month...

 

[Officer X]

The family called the cops claiming he left in a rage and he was a danger to his kids. Cop showed up at his house and ordered him to return to his fathers house so they could all sort everything out. He refused and slammed the door on the cop. Today he finds out he might be facing charges for disobeying the orders of a police officer. A detective is coming today to take his statement.

Without knowing all the details, here is goes;

We get called to do welfare checks on children all the time, mostly due to divorce/child custody issues and most of those are BS.

We would definitely not be looking to have him return anywhere to sort anything out. If need be, they're adults and they can sort it out themselves at a later date. The more important issue would be to make sure the kids were ok.

If we did get the call of a check and the caller reported that he left in a rage and was a danger to his kids, then he slammed the door on the cop who went to speak to him, that could very well substantiate the concerns. There is no way any officer from my agency would be walking away then and having a detective follow up, if dad refused to cooperate any further at that point, it's likely that an entry would be made to see if those kids were ok. If it had to be escalated to that point, an arrest would be made at that point for Obstruction and a call would most likely be placed to child services.

I've never had to go that far though, most incidents can be handled by talking.

 

[Knute]

I can see why your friend got into an argument with his family. He's such a stand-up guy that he slams doors in the faces of police. Here's the thing, you don't know that a crime didn't occur. You only heard your friend's version of what happened. You have no idea what was reported to the police as having occurred. I'm not sure why the officer wanted your friend to return to his dad's rather than just getting his version of what happened at his home and checking on the kids and neither do you. Unfortunately, your friend made things worse and instead of having it dealt with last night, he's now got a detective crawling up his ***** at his home, and you can be guaranteed a report will be forwarded on to DHS regardless of the findings.

+1 on the question of how much were they drinking???

 

[Goldendog Redux]

Once again the police are used to facilitate revenge rather than enforce laws

 

[merlynusn]

+1 to OfficerX and Knute. If i get a report the kids are in danger, I'd just ask to see the kids and ensure they are safe. I'd talk to the dad and figure out what happened. I certainly wouldn't have him return anywhere. If there is enough to arrest him based on what the other parties said, then the arrest would be made. If not, then no arrest is made. But slamming the door in the cop's face is not the answer. And there is no charge for him "disobeying" the officers orders. At least none that I can see based on the facts you presented. Now it might be different in that jurisdiction since I don't know what random laws they have. But here it certainly wouldn't be a charge.

 

[Bruce M]

I find it almost as difficult to believe that he was ordered to return to a disturbance as I do that officers where there to check the welfare of children after a potentially legitimate complaint and he slammed the door so they left without checking on the children. Just a guess but I think some information is missing or incorrect here.

 

[4949shooter]

I find it almost as difficult to believe that he was ordered to return to a disturbance as I do that officers where there to check the welfare of children after a potentially legitimate complaint and he slammed the door so they left without checking on the children. Just a guess but I think some information is missing or incorrect here.

Yep..

 

[COLOSHOOTR]

Having him return back to the scene of a disturbance just to get everyone there yelling again makes no sense and there has to be more to it.

 

[Mayhem like Me]

so why did you slam the door again?

 

[p.d.]

No one has come out and said it yet, so I will. I'm calling bull hockey on the return to dad's house business. If family members have already separated voluntarily, I'm not getting them back together so I can referee round two, and I've never seen any other cop do that in my entire career.

 

[PinkoCommie]

Things did not happen as the story would have it. I wasn't there, but I would bet $1 that an objective observer would say that this is not how it went down.

 

[CAcop]

There is a lot missing. Mostly the other half of the story.

As for the "going back to dad's." I wouldn't be surprised if the officer said something like, "Why don't you go smooth things over with your dad" and the guy hears, "Go back to dad's house and work it out."

That is why I love recording the crap out of people when they are all hot and bothered. That way when they complain they get to hear me say something completely different than what they think I said.

 

[Dragoon44]

I agree that the claim he was ordered to return to the residence sounds bogus no Cop wants to reunite folks that have a problem especially a potentially physically violent one. Their goal is usually to get the folks separated so everyone can cool off.

The whole things sounds like the typical dysfunctional family scenario.

 

[RussP]

A friend was at family dinner last night at his fathers.

Who was there? Was it just the the friend, his wife, their kids and the parents?

A bad argument broke out and accusations were made about his wife.

Who made the first negative comment? Who retaliated, the son or his wife? Has this discussion happened before? Were the children present?

She was being blamed for their sons birth defect.

Who was blaming her? How was it her fault?

He packed up his wife and kids and left before things got physical.

What were the parting words by the son and his wife? What were the parting words by the father and others there?

The family called the cops claiming he left in a rage and he was a danger to his kids.

What behavior did the family say led them to believe he would harm his own kids? How soon after he left the house did the family call?

Cop showed up at his house

How long after he left the father's house did the police arrive at his house?

and ordered him to return to his fathers house so they could all sort everything out.

I am going to guess that there is more to this conversation. What did the police initially say about the father's call? What was his response to the police. How long did they talk before 'ordering' him to return to the father's house? Why did the police say they wanted to get everyone together again? Did the police want just him to return? Did they want he and the wife? How about the kids?

He refused and slammed the door on the cop.

Is your friend known for his temper? What did he say to the police before he slammed the door?[/quote] Today he finds out he might be facing charges for disobeying the orders of a police officer. A detective is coming today to take his statement.

What is his game plan for talking with the detective. Is there going to be anyone there to advise him to STFU? If he goes ballistic again, he might have a visit from Child Protective Services.

Can a cop order someone to return to a place where no crime was committed? Any suggestions?

Yes, have someone there who can tell him to ST...well, I've already said that.

 

[Morris]

Threads like this always have me breaking out the popcorn popper.

 

[beatcop]

Doesn't add up.

..but, my .02 is that we have no "authority" to make anyone move anywhere, unless a refusal will constitute a violation of some sort.

In this scenario, I wouldn't facilitiate my own arrest if I was a suspect either. There is no obligation to cooperate if you're the suspect.

 

[nikerret]

What needs to be said has been said. Tagged to follow.