Playground attempted kidnappings - tell me this is a wild rumor

[Anonymous]

Heard from a neighbor that last spring random people from the neighborhood tried to grab kids off the Garrison playground during aftercare. My kid is not at Garrison but we do live nearishby and play there sometimes. Is this actually true?

I couldn't find anything on the neighborhood listserve or in local coverage so I am hoping it's a crazy, totally inaccurate story.

I debated about posting here. I don't want to people to be afraid of our area or to perpetuate a false and scary story, but I also spend enough time at that playground that I want to know if it's safe.

[Anonymous]

I live near there and have never heard anything about that. It's a very well-liked playground and there are usually plenty of people as well as soccer games going on. If any problem happened, lots of people would be there to intervene. Definitely not a place that feels scary to me.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard this! However, it is an open playground so there is some inherent danger. I have heard of teenagers having sex there.

[Anonymous]

1. That scenario almost never happens. I am a child sex crimes prosecutor with twenty years of experience and I have never seen it.

2. If it is too speculative for Next Door, just how insane is the story?

[Anonymous]

I live near there, and I've never heard of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. That scenario almost never happens. I am a child sex crimes prosecutor with twenty years of experience and I have never seen it.

2. If it is too speculative for Next Door, just how insane is the story?

Seriously.

I mean, is it possible that someone, one time, behaved crazily? Sure. But that could happen anywhere. There's really nothing specific to Garrison that makes it more likely. Of the area playgrounds I think it's among the safer options, because there are so many people around.

[Anonymous]

Generally these stories end with a realization that the reporting kid is just trying to get attention and needs therapy.

[Anonymous]

This happened at Tubman last fall during after care. The principal sent a message about it and a police report was taken.

Very often random people walking by will try to talk to kids through the fence during recess. A lot of times kids report people taking pictures of them. We have to regularly remind kids to not talk to anyone through the fence.

[Anonymous]

I’ve lived near there for years and have been taking my kids there since the new playground opened 5-6(?) years ago. I’ve never heard about anything like this happening and for all of the time I’ve spent there, I’ve never seen anything suspicious. I’ve always felt perfectly safe there.

[Anonymous]

That’s bizarre. I have not heard this about garrison in particular. In our neighborhood we did have one bizarre/scary incident of a mentally unwell person entering a public playground and attempting to take a kid, though it seems like they were more unwell/high/acting out than anything else. (They were also stopped immediately and then were arrested after also attempting to assault someone else a few blocks away.) It was still scary and it’s worth being alert and teaching your kids to be alert.

[Anonymous]

I am a Garrison parent, was on the playground when what I think OP is referencing occurred. Sounds like it's being wildly blown out of proportion, and had to do with a kid's relative who didn't have custody at that time trying to pick up that child. (I believe - not all of the details were shared, for privacy's sake, as is correct.) Lots of adults were around, the kid was fine, and the school handled concerns from parents well afterwards. It could have happened at any school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a Garrison parent, was on the playground when what I think OP is referencing occurred. Sounds like it's being wildly blown out of proportion, and had to do with a kid's relative who didn't have custody at that time trying to pick up that child. (I believe - not all of the details were shared, for privacy's sake, as is correct.) Lots of adults were around, the kid was fine, and the school handled concerns from parents well afterwards. It could have happened at any school.

That scenario -- a non custodial relative trying to pick up a child -- is so much more common than stranger kidnapping. And if your child is at risk from their relatives, where they go to school won't change that. Similarly, if they aren't at risk from their relatives, going to school with people who are isn't dangerous to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Garrison parent, was on the playground when what I think OP is referencing occurred. Sounds like it's being wildly blown out of proportion, and had to do with a kid's relative who didn't have custody at that time trying to pick up that child. (I believe - not all of the details were shared, for privacy's sake, as is correct.) Lots of adults were around, the kid was fine, and the school handled concerns from parents well afterwards. It could have happened at any school.

That scenario -- a non custodial relative trying to pick up a child -- is so much more common than stranger kidnapping. And if your child is at risk from their relatives, where they go to school won't change that. Similarly, if they aren't at risk from their relatives, going to school with people who are isn't dangerous to them.

There was a pretty scary incident at Ludlow along these lines this year.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is a student at Garrison and this did happen last year. It was around 4:00 and a man tried to lure a non-Garrison younger sibling off the playground. Garrison parents intervened. Security now remains on the playground.

[Anonymous]

Yes, our DD was in PreK at garrison at the time, one boy was trying to be escorting off the playground by a man. Parents stepped in and the man ran off. The boy was fine. I don’t know the details of the man that approached the younger boy. I don’t believe the boy was a student at garrison.