# Would You Call the Cops if Your Kid Stole Your Vehicle? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-call-the-cops-if-your-kid-stole-your-vehicle/673118 "2013-11-05T02:46:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-call-the-cops-if-your-kid-stole-your-vehicle/673118/21 "2013-11-05T21:03:18Z")
Wow. My family has to deal with a much more serious situation and the police refuse to get involved at all. My brother’s daughter stole his car and also took over her mother’s house along with her fellow drug addict boyfriend and friends. She also stole a debit card and checks- draining a few grand plus over drafting multiple relative’s bank accounts. Police wouldn’t do anything, and when my father and brother tried to report the car stolen the police said since she had been allowed to use the car with permission previously they considered it her car. In addition, she and her friends including the one with multiple drug arrests and an OD could not be removed from the house without a formal eviction. Normally I would not call the police for ANYTHING, partially because of fear of overreaction, the use of too much force like in the OP. But my recent experiences with my local police show they don’t even want to get involved or can’t. I’m pretty sure if I called about my kid taking my car they would laugh at me. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-call-the-cops-if-your-kid-stole-your-vehicle/673118/22 "2013-11-05T21:19:53Z")
> [@llcoolbj77](#): > > In Virginia we have a nifty little crime called “unauthorized use of a vehicle.” Basically, taking a car without permission, or outside the scope of permission, but without the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the car. All theft crimes in VA have a misdemeanor/felony threshold of $200. All cars cost $200. > > So Tommy takes parent’s car without permission to sneak out with his girlfriend. Parent wants to teach Tommy a lesson and calls the cops. Cop comes and scares Tommy, and Tommy gives a crying confession. Parent is satisfied. > > Six months later, Tommy and parent receive a notice of arraignment hearing for a felony unauthorized use of a vehicle. Juvenile court, probation, the works. Usually more onerous on the parents then the kids. With a full confession, some prosecutors will even go forward without a willing parent to testify. > > So for me, unless its my hypothetical 23 year old, heroin addicted child, then no. I will not involve the police. If I can help it. Same here in NJ. “Taken without owners consent” is in the motor vehicle code, not a criminal charge. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-call-the-cops-if-your-kid-stole-your-vehicle/673118/23 "2013-11-06T02:31:43Z")
Given how thuggish the police have become, I wouldn’t call the cops on my theoretical children unless I was so estranged from them that I didn’t care if they were killed. That was my answer even before I opened this thread, and saw that was exactly what happened. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-call-the-cops-if-your-kid-stole-your-vehicle/673118/24 "2013-11-06T03:45:07Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’m pretty sure we have a Doper from Ames. Maybe he’ll pop in with some insight on the frame of mind of the local cops. It does seem like there’s been more violent stuff going on in central Iowa lately. I’ve lived in Ames several times including recently, though not at the moment, and I have several family members that live there. I also am a former police dispatcher, though not for Ames. Honestly, I’ve never found Ames police to be particularly aggressive. Generally, the kind of cops who are ‘looking for action’ in central Iowa are on Des Moines PD (and by no means are all DSM PD cops that way). Cops in the suburbs and outlying communities are generally not really looking for trouble and are more community-focused. It does vary from city to city though. One thing, do we even know for sure that all the cops would definitely be aware the suspect was the kid of the person who stole the car --once a pursuit starts, it gets messy. I don’t know enough about the details here. Did they just check the plates, see it was stolen and the guy took off when they tried to pull him over, or did they get a call and go looking for the car right then? In the former case, they might not know as much about the situation either. Even if they did know, once someone starts a chase, they are creating a major danger and are treated accordingly. A vehicle has just as much capacity for lethal force as a handgun. If the guy was attempting to flee in the vehicle again after nearly hitting pedestrians, as the article seems to indicate, he’s already someone who has shown he’ll kill someone in order to escape. Getting shot at shouldn’t be unexpected in that situation. I mean, hell, he was right on campus in a central area, not out in the boonies. There’s a ton of students walking around that whole area that time of day. He could have decided to turn into a crowd and mow down dozens – then wouldn’t we be asking why the cops _didn’t_ fire? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-call-the-cops-if-your-kid-stole-your-vehicle/673118/25 "2013-11-06T03:53:10Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Same here in NJ. “Taken without owners consent” is in the motor vehicle code, not a criminal charge. That doesn’t sound “same” to me, unless I’m reading one of you wrong. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-call-the-cops-if-your-kid-stole-your-vehicle/673118/26 "2013-11-06T04:16:42Z")
I would, but only because she’s one year old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-call-the-cops-if-your-kid-stole-your-vehicle/673118.md?page=1)