Expert: Jack Toomey - 12/10/2010

Question
QUESTION: Mr. Toomey,
Hello and thanks ahead for any and all advice offered. Okay.
First off I want give you some background on whats going on.
At the beginning of my book an engaged couple break up
because of a rumor that was started.  The woman was pregnant
but she did not let the father know. The father is a
detective at the police station. He was questioning a
suspect (which happens to be a woman) about a crime and that
suspect for some reason that I have not quiet figured out
yet became obsessed with him. Therefore she started the
rumor causing them to split up. So now they are split up and
he doesnt know that she is pregnant.  The obsessed lady
starts to stalk her because she finds out that the mother-
to-be is pregnant. See she works at a law firm with the
mother-to-be's best friend. She does this for about 3 years
after the baby is born, taking pictures and such stuff.
After about the first year she came up with the idea to
kidnap the child for her own because she is obsessed with
the father. So the child is 3 years old and the father is a
detective at the police station. There is a lot more but
that is a shortened version.

Okay now on to my questions. I do apologize but I figured it
would help if you had some of the background on what was
going on. You have already answered a lot of the questions I
had in some of the other posts that you have answered. But
none really asked about the rescue. So my questions pertain
to that.

1.Would they let the father work on this case?

2. The lady is unstable and she has a weapon. What
procedures would go about the safe release of the child?

3. Once they have the child rescued what happens then? They
have already apprehended the suspect, so other than that
what needs to be done pertaining the police? As far as
questions with the parents and the child.

Thanks again,
Amanda


ANSWER: Amanda,


The father would not work on a case involving his own family.  I don't know how big your department is but they would assign another detective to the case.

I am assuming that this is not a hostage situation or where the woman is barricaded in the house.  In that case I would simply go to the house where she lives and knock on the door and talk to her.  If she had the baby in her arms then that would present a small problem.  If she didn't it would be perfectly understandable to walk by her and take the baby out of the house.  No warrant would be needed since exigent circumstances exist.

I am not sure I understand all of your third question.  The woman would be charged with kidnapping.  I don't understand the rest of your question.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Mr. Toomey,
Thanks for your answers and I am sorry that I did not word
my third question as I was seeing it in my head. So I will
try to phrase it better.

1.Okay I don't believe that this will be a hostage situation
either but the woman is unstable and she already knows that
the police are after her. So she is not going to just let
the police walk into the house and get the child. Not sure
how you would have to go about it now?
Sorry didn't clarify what I meant last time.

As for the third question. Once the police do rescue the
child will the parents simply be allowed to take the child
home or are the police going to want to follow up? Such as
are they going to have to answer questions and so on. What
are the procedures?
Yes the father is a detective but at the time he is thinking
like a father not a detective so it is up to me to do the
thinking for him. And I need your help with that.

Thanks again for your time,
Amanda

Answer
If she is armed with a weapon (what kind?, a gun, knife?) then there would have to be a negotiator involved who would talk to her over the telephone or in someway.  I still think that the best way to resolve the situation would be to knock on the door and talk to her unless she had an automatic weapon or something.

The parents would have to be interviewed but they probably had been interviewed over and over before.  So its not imperative that they be take to a station for an interview at the time that their child was rescued.  Waiting a few days would not hurt.

The procedures would be a simple interview (like I said it would have been conducted before) in a interview room somewhere in the police station.  If the parents were ever suspects then they would be interviewed separately.  If they were never considered to be suspects then they would be interviewed together.