What officer has not had the generally sad or, perhaps, even tragic experience of witnessing the arrest of a parent in front of a confused and frightened child? A number of forward-thinking police departments around the United States have planned and prepared for such events. There are even policy management services that provide policy guidance on dealing with children of arrested and detained persons. Still, the police community needs to do more to help children caught in this situation. To that end, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently released a report titled Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents.1 The report is the product of a yearlong DOJ-funded IACP project.
