Police ask for help with child-related investigation

CITY POLICE NEWS RELEASE

************************* Seeking the public’s assistance in investigation

On November 10 at 4:52 p.m., the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service responded to a call from a local mother that reported that her seven-year-old child got into a stranger’s vehicle.

It was reported that this was the first time the child had taken the bus alone after school without her older brother and that she had missed her regular stop and was dropped off on the opposite side of the road that she normally gets dropped off at.

The girl became disoriented and a beige-coloured car with an older couple inside pulled over in front of the girl, stopped and asked her if she was okay, if she was lost, and if she required any assistance.

The child told them where she lived and the couple offered to drive her home if she wanted.

The youngster got into the vehicle and her brother that was arriving to meet her off the bus observed her inside the car.

He approached the car and advised the couple that he was the girl’s brother and he would take her home.

The girl exited the car without further incident and walked home with her brother.

The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service would like to complete their investigation and are requesting the couple in the beige car that stopped to assist the child to contact them at 705-949-6300, extension 333.

The Sault Ste. Marie Police would like to advise the public if they encounter a situation such as this to contact the police if they find a child that is lost or in need of assistance.

If they do not have access to a phone, ask someone else to contact the police.

Speak to child and re-assure them until police arrive. The Sault Ste. Marie Police Community Services Unit officers attend at all local elementary schools every school year and provide “Stranger Danger” Prevention Programs to all students in grades JK to Grade 5.

Safety tips and reminders are often and regularly released to the media and the public regarding Strangers and Street Proofing your children.

Below are some of the key safety points to go over with your children.

Street proofing and safety tips to help protect your children - tell your children • If someone follows your child in a car, they should turn around and get away. Run home or to a home of a person known to them, or the nearest public place such as a school, store, or office. Tell your child to never get into a vehicle of a person that is not known to them if they are asked to and advise them to try to remember what the driver and car looked like or its license number

• Remind your children to tell you where they are at all times. Tell them, their schools, their day care provider, etc., where to reach you in an emergency

• If they are home alone, not to answer the door or if on the phone, not to say they are alone

• Teach them to know their full name, age, telephone number, area code, city and province

• Teach them how to contact you, or another close relative in an emergency. How to contact a trusted neighbor, police, fire or ambulance services and when to make these calls

• If they become lost or separated from you in a public place or store, tell them to go directly to a cashier or information booth

• To avoid situations where strangers may approach your child alone, such as an unsupervised play area, empty lots, abandoned buildings, bushy area of parks, creeks and riverbeds. Advise them to run home or to the nearest public place or a home of a person known to them, if someone is following or frightening your child

• Teach them that adults, especially strangers, rarely ask children for help in finding things, or for directions. Explain to your child that both men and women are strangers

• That police officers who wear uniforms are their friends and that they can be trusted if your child is in trouble. It is for this reason that you should never use the police as a threat to your child. This will confuse their image of the police

• Teach your children to trust their feelings and that they have the right to say “NO”, even to an adult

• Have a secret code word that only you and they know. They are not to go with anyone else unless that person provides the secret code to your child

• Keep your child’s current physical description and a full- face photograph (like their school photograph) in an accessible place

• If they are being bullied or know of someone else being bullied at school or over the internet, to report it to a parent, teacher or any other adult they feel comfortable with.

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