[trryan5]

What's a person to do after witnessing child abuse in public without any information to help track the victim or perpetrator? Is there a way to get an immediate response from CPS or an entity like that before the victim and perpetrator leave?

I took my kids to a McDonald's in a really bad part of town (Rancho & Washington) and sat by the play structure. All of a sudden this meth-head came in, let out a blood-curdling scream that had every kid in the place freaked out, charged into the play structure, and proceeded to scream his head off at a boy who was probably not even 2 years old. It was mostly in Spanish but the English included "F*** you!" and "What the f*** do you think you're doing?" There was a sound like he hit the kid, but I didn't actually see it. Then he stormed off leaving the kid in tears. The boy's mother seemed to ponder going to her son for a while, but then must have decided it would be too much work to get out of the chair (she was about the size of Moby Dick). Eventually the kid calmed down and everybody went about their business while I silently thanked God that my kids were not inside the play structure when it all happened.

I thought about calling Metro, but I figured they would say if the kid's mom didn't care and I didn't actually see any physical violence, they couldn't do anything. I thought about trying to get a license plate number and calling child protective services, but the meth-head took off before my kids had even finished eating. And the boy's mom was still showing no sign of movement when my kids were exhausted from an hour in the play place, so I just gave up and left.

Anybody have any suggestions for how to handle a situation like this? In case I ever see something like it again?

[WestieJeff]

Doesn't even sound like it was his kid. Why would CPS be involved?

He yelled at some kids and you want to call the police?

Stay out of drug land would be my recommendation.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by WestieJeff

Doesn't even sound like it was his kid. Why would CPS be involved?

He yelled at some kids and you want to call the police?

Stay out of drug land would be my recommendation.

Or call the cops quickly. Never can tell where that will end up but likely for the good of the kid.

[ddrhazy]

Some people are born into a bad life, nothing you can do about it. I'm sure the kid is already on the CPS radar and if he isn't, will soon be.

[irisheyzs]

About 10 years ago my husband and I came out of a store near our home. We walked past a man who was screaming in Spanish at a child and slapped him upside his head as we walked by. I wanted to call the police but didn't. Afraid to get involved. Ten years later, I still think about that child and can still see him trying to block the slaps. I wonder what would have happened if I would have called the police. Would it have made a difference? Would his life have been better? Or worse? I wish I would have called.

[ddrhazy]

No irish, you intervening would not have made a significant difference in altering that child's life. Most of these children are already in the system in some form. Either the school system alerts the government or the child's relatives alert the government. These families are on the welfare system probably, that will have additional focus by agencies such as CPS.

[Tek_Freek]

Yeah, it's always someone else's resposibility.

[StaggerLee22]

[unf0rgiven6262]

What's the desired outcome? Seems like you're just having a difficult time accepting that something so strange and intense happened and you had no control over it.

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

Yeah, it's always someone else's resposibility.

I get your point, but the fact is that sometimes you might actually make a situation worse by saying something. The sad fact of the matter is that if you humiliate the abuser, he will likely take that aggression out on his victims since he or she is a coward to be an abuser in the first place.

The person takes a bunch of grief from the boss at work and says nothing, but the spouse, the dog, and the kid are easy pickins to take out the aggression on.

CPS in this town is a joke, btw. Don't bother.