Sitting here watching the Masters and the doorbell rings. I open the door to see one police officer standing at the door, 2 teen girls next to a parked car in the street, and another officer at one end of my circular drive. My immediate thought is they broke down...or there was an accident. I look at the officer and ask "Is everything alright"? His reply...."That depends on what happens next." I am now immediately bumfuzzled. He proceeds to tell me that these 2 girls at their car were at a party last night and their cell phone was stolen. They called their provider and it said it was tracked back to this address, but also tells me they are accurate to a MILE AND A HALF. "Do you have any children?" I told him my children were inside. "Is one of them a teenager?" I replied that my daughter was, and she walked to the front door not realizing what was going on. He asked her to step outside...so now these other girls have seen my daughter. He asks her what she was doing last night. I told her it was OK, and that she should be honest and tell the officer (I already know the answer). "I was babysitting with my friend watching her baby sister". His reply..."Are you sure?" OK....I let that one slide. Then Mollie begins to tear up and her voice is shaking. "Yes, I'm certain", she replied. 

"Your voice is shaking, I know you're lying". 

Well, you wanna piss me off? Yep, that'll do it.I looked right at him and said "Her voice is shaking and she's crying because she's 14 and has never had any reason to have a negative interaction with law enforcement. She isn't answering another question. I will. But before I do, I want you to know that I really don't appreciate what you just said, and if you pull that @#$%& again, neither of us will be talking to you anymore; we'll be waiting for your highest ranking field officer to arrive. She was at her friend's house until 7pm, at which time I picked her up and she was home with her Mother and I the rest of the night". 

He replies, "I don't care if I offend you or not, I'm conducting an investigation". Now I'm shaking...ready to punch this SOB right in the nose. "The hell you are, you're baiting a 14 year old in an attempt to illicit a confession. 


So he goes back down and talks to these girls again, and comes back and says "Are you sure you weren't at a party last night?" I not so politely reminded him that I would be answering the questions. "I was up until 1:30 this morning, at which time I went in and kissed both my kids on their foreheads before going to bed, and up again at 5, so unless she has a teleporter in her bedroom, she was there. And let me remind you that she is 14. It's not like she stole my car....she's never even been behind the wheel". 

By this time my wife has come out and she missed the initial bull#badword# accusation from the guy, but she heard my last reply and very calmly grabbed my arm to try to calm me down. So now this guy goes down and talks to these girls again. He comes back and says "Here's the deal. I can only go on what information I get, and these girls say they recognize your daughter from the party last night. So maybe she has something she wants to share? They do lie, you know." My wife could sense it coming, and she squeezed my arm just enough to remind me that my 10 year old and his friend were watching, and calmly asked the kids, including my daughter, to go inside. I looked him square in the eye an said "This is no longer a two way conversation. I am going to speak, you can choose to listen, but if you don't I'm saying it anyway. I know where my daughter was last night. Period. End of story. I also asked you to stop the bull#badword# accusations. You chose not to. So now, here is what you need to know; My daughter did not steal a call phone. My daughter was not at a party last night. And you have now potentially put her at risk by making her come outside and letting these girls see her and allow them to convince themselves they know her. So if these two girls or their friends pull some bull#badword# stunt and come after my daughter in any way, I will be calling you first. Additionally, you yourself said it was accurate to about a mile and a *#&$ing half. So perhaps you should have stopped while you were ahead and simply let those girls know it could be in one of 1000 homes in the surrounding mile and a half. We are now through. Goodbye." So he pulled out a card, wrote down his name/case number/ and ID, and handed it to me before turning and walking away toward the girls without saying a word. 

So I went inside and found my daughter absolutely shaken up as she was getting ready for church. So we talked for a while, and I apologized for having to teach her this (keep in mind, she has always looked to law enforcement with respect and had NEVER had any negative interaction. Heck, many of my friends are deputies and so is our neighbor. She never saw this coming). I asked her if she understood the way he was trying to manipulate her. She explained it to a T. I told her that until she is an adult, if she ever finds herself in a situation where she has been accused of something, she is to tell the officer she won't answer any questions until one of her parents is present. She then said "Now I understand why people refuse to talk to the police until they have an attorney present." 

I truly hate that I had to have that conversation with my 14 year old daughter. Hate it. Hate even more that I am going to have to take time out of my day when I get back from Norfolk on Wednesday to go to the police station and make sure his CO hears this story. Even my wife, who doesn't get mad at anyone, was livid