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"Under color of law" violations

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When do police officers have the right to take a minor child and refuse to give the child back to the individual the parent has supervising them (ie; babysitter)? The issue at hand is occurring in washtenaw County, Michigan.

Edit* providing more context*

My 7 year old was staying with a friend of the family while we searched for a new residence following an eviction (property is being sold by owner). My 18 y/o son convinced the friend to bring the baby out to visit, then refused to give him back, driving down to the police station. I received a phone call about this occurring and was several hours away, unable to retrieve the baby myself.
The police refused to give my son to the family friend, holding him in an area of the police station away from everyone for several hours until after 5PM- when they had a CPS worker come out to justify the reasoning behind keeping him.
I had arranged for no less than 5 individuals to pick my son up in my stead, and all were denied by the officers. I was told that if I picked him up myself, I would be arrested on sight and then the police and CPS would figure out a reason to terminate my parental rights. The friend of the family was not under the influence of drugs etc, the officers simply refused to allow my child to leave with him.

*background*

My 18 year old son ran away after violently attacking me almost 2 years ago. The same police department that held my 7 year old allowed a man of considerable wealth to take my then 16 y/o. There is no blood relation or any other reason for him to have been out of my custody, and the wealth constitutes privilege that the local law enforcement individuals not only facilitated the situation, but refused to assist me in getting my older son back. The police told me that if I went to retrieve my older son they would arrest me on sight. I filed a complaint with the attorney general's office which received a generic refusal to assist response.

Several months after the assault I was charged with domestic violence for this incident and spent almost 30 days in jail. I did not assault anyone, and had to go to the hospital from the injuries I sustained. The 18 year old was in the LEIN system as a runaway, but not one police officer, social worker, etc. Would assist me in getting him away from this individual. Any requests for assistance were refused and the charges lodged against me were the icing on the cake for me to cease trying. It worked.

The situation has now progressed to such a point that it doesn't make sense even as I attempt to explain it.

There were no court orders or charges against me to justify my son being outside of my custody. CPS has been utilized as a weapon and false allegations have been filed egregiously- to the point where social workers were arriving at my residence up to 8 times a day, knowing the allegations were false. It is supposed to be a felony charge when false allegations are made in this manner, however, I was told that no one would assist me in pursuing charges because, "it makes it too difficult for individuals to report when real abuse is occurring with children." Instead, I have been considerably harassed by these individuals for so long that my sanity is fraying at the edges.

Now, the situation is replaying itself in a more bizarre fashion. Apparently there is a court case for which I have never received any type of paperwork or even a notice to appear that is being pushed through the courts as though I am noncompliant. I have been told by one foster care worker who deigned to answer my calls (the individuals that I am being told to contact do not pick up or return calls) that my little boy is going to foster care because he has difficulty reading and that I did not pick him up from the police station when they held him and prevented the one supervising him to take him home. I have no paperwork nor do I even know what pretense this is being done under.

Any advice on this situation would be greatly appreciated. If I can clear anything up and actually have the answer, I will be more than happy to. Thank you so much for your responses to this.
 
Last edited:


LdiJ

Senior Member
When do police officers have the right to take a minor child and refuse to give the child back to the individual the parent has supervising them (ie; babysitter)? The issue at hand is occurring in washtenaw County, Michigan
Sorry, but your question, without context, is very difficult to answer. If you explain what actually happened we would be better able to give you a response.

There are many instances in which a police officer could remove a child from a caregiver.
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
Probably when the police officers have reason to believe that the child would be at risk. It's their call.

You might get more helpful comments if you tell us what happened. Starting with why the police were there in the first place.
 
Sorry, but your question, without context, is very difficult to answer. If you explain what actually happened we would be better able to give you a response.

There are many instances in which a police officer could remove a child from a caregiver.
Thank you. I am trying to figure out how to edit the original post so that the situation makes a little more sense. I thought that there were very specific reasons when a minor child had to be taken into some type of protective custody- such as neglect or harm coming to said minor. Let me try to finagle this so it is on the original post.
 

Just Blue

Senior Member
Thank you. I am trying to figure out how to edit the original post so that the situation makes a little more sense. I thought that there were very specific reasons when a minor child had to be taken into some type of protective custody- such as neglect or harm coming to said minor. Let me try to finagle this so it is on the original post.
It doesn't have to be in the opening post...just tell us what happened.
 

commentator

Senior Member
Please keep everything in one post.

Quote: CPS has been utilized as a weapon and false allegations have been filed egregiously- to the point where social workers were arriving at my residence up to 8 times a day, knowing the allegations were false. It is supposed to be a felony charge when false allegations are made in this manner, however, I was told that no one would assist me in pursuing charges because, "it makes it too difficult for individuals to report when real abuse is occurring with children." Instead, I have been considerably harassed by these individuals for so long that my sanity is fraying at the edges.

This makes very little sense. They were there 8 times a day, because of false charges. So whoever it was kept filing false reports, and CPS kept responding, up to 8 times a day without figuring out they were false charges?
 
Please keep everything in one post.

Quote: CPS has been utilized as a weapon and false allegations have been filed egregiously- to the point where social workers were arriving at my residence up to 8 times a day, knowing the allegations were false. It is supposed to be a felony charge when false allegations are made in this manner, however, I was told that no one would assist me in pursuing charges because, "it makes it too difficult for individuals to report when real abuse is occurring with children." Instead, I have been considerably harassed by these individuals for so long that my sanity is fraying at the edges.

This makes very little sense. They were there 8 times a day, because of false charges. So whoever it was kept filing false reports, and CPS kept responding, up to 8 times a day without figuring out they were false charges?
Yes.
I understand that it makes no sense. I was told by the social workers that, "they have an obligation to investigate the allegations".

Like I stated in the op, when I confronted the social workers about the felony status of filing false allegations and squandering public services, I received no assistance.

I am simply trying to figure out how to effectively handle the situation at hand in the most efficient way possible, not make blanket persecution statements.

Thank you for any input you may provide.
 

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