LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONELL NEED THE ATHOURITY TO ENFORCE CONTACT/VISITATION ORDERS! Believe it or not; Police officers are more acutely aware of the situations that arise as a result of parental conflicts not only at the onset but in the aftermath as well than many parents realize. Most do take a fair and impartial stance, and feel deeply frustrated with situations of severe abuses and interference of visitation and contact orders; bad parents who have severed contact or moved out of state to do so although there are orders in full force and effect; non-custodial parents who do not know where their children even are ; the plight of parents who have multi-jurisdictional cases and have little to no recourse; false accusations made to maintain or take custody and this list goes on. It has been my experience that local and state police personnel do take the concerns of the non-custodial parent quite seriously because they are trained to read people. They also can easily access criminal records and if a parent who has never had any criminal charges has a laundry list that begins and end with the onset of a custody dispute and the named victim was the other parent and all have been dismissed or not guilty; the picture is quite clear and does not need long explanations. Most will listen longer and show a concerned parent far more respect, and desire to help than any family court. Yet their hands are tied. More importantly due to not only training but experience in the field, most of these men and woman have been dispatched for countless numbers of domestic calls. However, they are bound to act upon calls of child abuse, enforcement of restraining orders, claims of domestic violence and the like because many of these calls are legitimate and must be addressed. In the same token, they are obligated to take complaints and reports that are clearly and evidently acts of vengeance toward an ex-spouse or partner rather than real and serious cases of imminent danger but are bound by their duty to protect and serve to treat them as if they were. Currently, when a non-custodial or parent with rights that are being interfered with contacts law enforcement; personally or over the telephone with very real concerns for their child/children; the officers are left with few options other than to do a wellness check; contact Child Protective Services or refer the parent back to family court knowing that the chances of proper resolution are low. Law enforcement cannot currently act upon these situations with-out permission from a Judge. Frustrations with these types of cased are very real with the Law Enforcement Community in general. If they were able to exercise their discretion, and in their professional opinion feel that a crime has occurred had the authority make an arrest for non-compliance or charge a parent with neglect or child endangerment with-out the extensive limitations placed on them by a broken system, the benefits to affected parents and children would be astronomical! Do not doubt that the majority of Law Enforcement Officers are not only acutely aware of the fact that there is little to no recourse for parents who’s rights have been severely violated to the detriment to the child/children; they are equally aware that it is unlikely that there will be enforcement or punishment for the wrongdoing. Furthermore they are met with the knowledge that reports made to CPS, DHS and the like on behalf of the distraught parent, are almost always determined as unfounded although in truth they are very much the opposite. It is not a secret that this dilemma exists. If the parents/ people who break the law by abusing the provisions of family court orders had to face the reality that it would be enforced as a criminal offense, cause for certain arrest, prosecution and real jail time; when they make continued and deliberate violations of legally binding orders; the benefit to families would be immeasurable and early intervention would cut down if not eradicate Parental Alienation, Hostile Aggressive Parenting and Court Sanctioned Kidnapping! The multi-billion dollar business of divorce and custody would take a huge hit and that is why a very real option to dealing properly with this form of systematic abuse to fit and loving parents in the form of granting authority to Law Enforcement to intervene has not occurred and likely will not happen unless there is constant and relentless pressure placed on our law makers to grant this authority! S. Lombard- Elmore ©
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 20:50:51 +0000
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