“Tough love” doesn’t get much tougher than this.
The parents of three minors allegedly involved in a series of flash-mob robberies turned their own sons in to police after seeing their faces on surveillance video released by the Los Angeles Police Department, according to news reports.
And now the families are going to have to face the consequences.
According to The Los Angeles Times, three teens have been arrested after their mothers took them to different police stations over a four-day span in September.
The youths had been spotted on video of flash-mob robberies at 7-Eleven convenience stores in different areas of the city over the summer, the newspaper reported.
In a post on the social media platform X, the union representing LAPD officers called the news a “breath of fresh air and a display of parental courage.”
A breath of fresh air and a display of parental courage. The parents of 3 teenagers who were allegedly shown in security video participating in flash mob-style robberies turned their teens in for arrest at local police stations. There is no question that these were incredibly… pic.twitter.com/81mpwgClLa
— Los Angeles Police Protective League (@LAPPL) October 2, 2024
There’s no doubt that “parental courage” is an apt description.
Would you turn your child into the police if necessary?
Yes: 98% (514 Votes)
No: 2% (9 Votes)
Considering the climate of the times, when certain communities view cooperation with the police as a kind of collaboration with the enemy, the idea of women turning over their own children for prosecution has to seem like betrayal.
And as any parent probably knows, the teenagers arrested won’t be the only ones facing consequences. When minors are caught up in the legal system, it means their parents are caught up in the legal system, too.
But for these mothers, clearly it was the decision that had to be made.
According to the Times, LAPD Assistant Chief Blake Chow said the first woman took her 14-year-old son to the city’s Northeast police station on Sept. 26. Another woman took her 15-year-old son to the Southwest station on Friday. On Sunday, a third woman brought her 15-year-old son to the 77th Street station.
All three boys were charged with robbery.
They were released to their parents’ custody, according to KTTV.
Residents interviewed by the station praised the women.
“They did the right thing because if you don’t stop them young, they could go pretty far with it,” one woman said.
“The parents totally did the right thing by turning their kids in,” another woman told KTTV. “You’ve got to teach them young about what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Now, clearly some teaching about “what’s right and what’s wrong” hadn’t quite sunk in, because the kids were apparently part of the problem in the first place. But again, as any parent knows — and any adult who’s been a child knows — kids are going to make mistakes.
Some are worse than others. The flash-mob robberies were bad, but could have been a great deal worse.
“Witnesses have told authorities that they fear for their safety during the robberies and that some of the suspects have physically pushed them, although no injuries have been reported,” KTLA reported.
The point of parental discipline is to try to make sure that those youthful mistakes don’t turn into a lifetime of wrongdoing — living on the wrong side of the law, religion and decent human behavior.
On social media, applause for the women involved was almost universal. Here’s a small sampling:
Good parents!!! Shows them consequences come from poor choices they make it life.
— Marky Mark (@Revelations1914) October 3, 2024
These are good people doing the right thing, even when it’s hard.
— Barry Gadbois (@BarryGadbois) October 2, 2024
Thank you for being good parents.
— Andy McCormac (@andy_mccormac) October 2, 2024
But amid the praise, there was a nagging question.
3 parents.
Out of about 40 parents.
How about the rest?
— Miss Jo (@therealmissjo) October 3, 2024
“3 parents out of about 40 parents,” one X user wrote. “How about the rest?”
The chances of the remaining families turning in their miscreant offspring are low to the point of nonexistent. If it were otherwise, it’s a good chance there never would have been a flash mob in the first place.
Orderly neighborhoods with solid family structures don’t make for flash-mob violence as a rule.
But the point here is that even in a time of turbulence, when respect for the law is low and attacks on police are high (thanks mainly to the Democratic Party and the even more-deranged progressive left), there are still parents out there willing to put their children — and themselves — through the wringer of the justice system in the hopes that it will mean a better future.
That’s a tough decision. And it’s a tough, tough kind of love.
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