<p>Need theoretical legal advice here! 16 year old stident about to start working at a seasonal retail job, for a national company at a site in New England. Just found out that at the end of last summer, some other students who had the same job were called to an office where armed security guards accused them of theft and tried to get them to confess. Some were minors, some were over 18. None of them confessed as far as I know. None are working there again this summer. What should I tell the 16 year old who IS working there if something similar happens to them? To refuse to talk to anyone unless a parent is present? The whole thing sounds a little illegal to me.</p>
<p>When my son was 12 there was an incident at his middle school (which did not involve him) where the police questioned some other students without their parent or an attorney present. I told him strictly and repeatedly “if that EVER happens to you before you turn 18 the only thing you should say is ‘I want my parents’ and/or ‘I want attorney Ms. X’.”
I am not a lawyer but in my opinion no one should be questioning my minor child without me present.</p>
<p>I concur. Just make sure the kids know when the police are the good guys. My S and a friend were robbed of their money, iPods and cell phones when they were 17. Or, as it turned out, just ONE cell phone but they were so stunned by the experience they forgot they had the other phone, and high tailed it back to the friend’s house to call the police. Whereupon, the parents called us and we drove over. By that time, the police had arrived and were questioning the boys.</p>
<p>It turned out the perps were really dumb. They started using my S’s cell phone. Daily I printed out the calls, which the police were able to traingulate and ultimately find some of the perps, one of whom was over 18 and already had a record. Since the perps were young, we were mainly thrilled to find they did not go to the local HS!</p>
<p>My son was a witness to a crime. I was shocked that he was questioned by the police in the town we live in without our knowledge. I called him at 9:30pm because he was supposed to come home. At first he did not answer his cell. I was about to call the police (not knowing he was them), when he finally sent a text. He told me that everything is fine, but he cannot talk to me right now, but will explain later! I had no idea as to what was going on, but he called back a few moments later. By that time it around 10 pm already. The police were finished questioning my minor son and let him go. They did not inquire as to whether his parents were worried that he was not home, and did not offer to call me or to give him a ride home. My son had been instructed to contact us if a situation like this came up, but he did not that.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies! My understanding was that these were not real policemen, but uniformed “loss prevention security” who detained and questioned (and scared)the kids. In the end, I think they figured out that it was a supervisor who was embezzling money, but I’m not sure.</p>