Shady Cove Police Chief Rick Mendenhall wants everyone to know that criminal behavior has tough consequences.
That's why, at the request of parents, he took a third-grade girl at Shady Cove Elementary School out of class in handcuffs and home to her mother for a talk about theft this week.
Mendenhall said the parents, whom he declined to identify to protect the girl's privacy, asked him to "arrest" their daughter after she was caught stealing for a second time.
"The parents are trying to instill responsibility and show consequences," he said. "This was my first request like this, but I would do it for any parent."
On Tuesday, Mendenhall went to a third-grade classroom, handcuffed the girl, whose age Mendenhall didn't have, and took her home in a police car. No charges were filed, he said. He and the girl's mother warned the youngster that if she continued to steal, she really would be arrested and have to face theft charges in the juvenile justice system.
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He said the family that requested his help has had its struggles.
The father is a recovering meth addict who has gotten his life back on track. The girl is a middle child in a large group of siblings, and police have contacted her before about thefts, he said.
"I was trying to help them along," he said.
Shady Cove School Principal Tiffany O'Donnell said she also supported the family and approved their plan when Mendenhall brought it to her. She said the school, which includes both the elementary school and Shady Cove Middle School, works closely with police and appreciates the department's efforts.
She had hoped to accompany the police chief to the classroom and call the student out of class so he could take her into custody. However, dealing with a shortage of substitute teachers and another student disciplinary action kept her busy when Mendenhall arrived Tuesday.
O'Donnell said she got one complaint from the parents of another student in the class who was frightened by the mock arrest. She visited the third-grade classroom Thursday to talk about how police officers, like principals, sometimes have to pull students who make bad choices out of class to face consequences.
"It scares a third-grader to bejeebers and back to see that," said one concerned mother, who asked not to be identified in print because she feared repercussions in the community.
"As a parent, I agree with a 'scared straight' tactic, but don't traumatize the rest of the class," she said.
She said her son greeted her Tuesday night when she got home from work with a worrisome tale of a police officer coming to his class and taking the girl next to him away in "real handcuffs," but she had no details from school officials about what had happened.
"It was frustrating," she said.
She got an explanation from the school the next day and a police officer came to visit her son at home and reassure him that police worked to keep him safe.
"Some people will see this as intimidation or punishment, but it is a good lesson in accountability" for all students, Mendenhall said. "You should have seen their eyes."
Mendenhall said he normally wouldn't take a student into custody from class unless their parents knew about it or if the child posed an immediate threat.
Lt. Tim Doney of the Medford Police Department said officers regularly get requests from parents to talk to kids caught shoplifting, drinking or using drugs. For some midnight capers by teenagers, police are the only resource available for parents to call.
"Most officers are willing to step in when parents ask," Doney said. "But there's a fine line officers have to follow."
Sometimes an officer's presence can make an impression on a youth about the seriousness of the situation, and sometimes it needlessly makes them scared of police and potentially makes an officer's job harder, he explained.
Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485 or at aburke@mailtribune.com
