I own my home, ans my small child has a habit of likimg to be nude outdoors )well. indoddors too!!) So is t legal to be nude on your own property? The officer came in my driveway and and demanded I clothed the beby (which I did immediately and poltely). II mean it'not exactly prudent, but on your own property I don't know if it's legal or not. The reason I want to kmow because she LOVES doing it, it's a habit. A VERY hard habit to break!!!
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FYI, I live in a rural town, VERY RURAL!!

sigcopper

I've been in law enforcement for 22 years and have NEVER arrested a child to put a "scare" into them. Also, please note that my first word was "Generally".

ScottGem

Thank you, That's MN code correct?

Also I said local police, I should have said small town police. I've known it to happen (scare arrests).

sigcopper

Yes, this is MN state statute. She never posted what state she is from and most if not all states have the same law concerning children. The OP has not come back with the age of the child which would be nice to know. I just find it hard to believe this child is over the age of 5 and running around naked.

It would be difficult to prosecute for neglect if the parent is around and the conditions of the home are fine or nearly fine.

Arresting small children to scare them is a horrible thing to do. Arresting people just to scare them is also illegal. This would be a false arrest and subject the officer to criminal penalties and a law suit. Many times parents have asked me to scare their children into wearing a seatbelt or stay in their car seat. No way will I do this. If the child is lost or needs to the police for any reason I want them to come to me and not fear me. Parents have done some crazy things.

ScottGem

Lets make sure we are on the same page. Arresting small children (pre-school age) for anything is ridiculous. Arresting school age children as a scare tactic MAY be an effective tool depending on the age and offense.

And yes, I dislike parents who use police officers as a bogeyman. Children should be taught that police officers are nice and there to be called on for help.

sigcopper

We are moving off target here, but I respectfully disagree with you. If I don't have probable cause to make an arrest and I'm only doing it to scare people, I'll be finding myself behind bars and the subject of a law suit. I don't know of anybody that has every done such a thing.

passmeby

The child is 2 and as soon as she learned how to undress, it was ALL OUT!! The same goes for most kids, it can be hard to keep them clothed at home, I think any mom can attest to that at least to some extent.

And YES, the police here do in fact go around looking for someone to harass, it's their hobby.

Anyway, it's resolved, anytime the baby is outdoors she will be clothed properly. Believe me, I don't want any (more) trouble.

I just thought it nonsense to complain about a baby that is nude playng outdoors.......come on. I'm ALWAYS within 10 feet of her, as I said, it only happens when she wants to folllow me outside when I smoke. She is NEVER outdoors unsupervised, EVER, clothed or not. Hopefully the cold weather will thwart it completely!!

I wasn't worried about me being arrested, I was worried about CPS or something, I don't want to deal with those people!!

It could be bored cops, it could be nosey neighbors, but whomever it is, as far as this issue, it's over. I'll make her a shirt that says F* The Police, that'll do it.

sigcopper

Nice, real nice. Way to teach your daughter respect for others. With parents like you, I'll have a job forever.

ScottGem

My final word on this, because it off topic and the OP is satisfied with the advice. The instances of know of were where children were at a transitional stage of life. The arrests were "processed" with the full knowledge and support of the child's parents. No record was kept of the arrest and they happened in small town police departments. In most of the situations I am aware of the tactic has worked more often than not.

Fr_Chuck

I can only tell you about GA and TN, where I was a police officer. But it also has a simular law and we could not "arrest" a child under 12 but we did take them into protective custody pending a review by either Children services or by the Juv court. They were never cuffed unless it was "for thier protection" I guess to stop the police officer from beating them when they keep hitting the officer. but not cuffed to detain or punish them.

We did confiscate skate boards, and dozens of other objects and told them their parents had to pick them up.

But the rule on not arresting or not committing a crime, does not stop a officer from detaining and taking the child into custody if needed.

J_9

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