8/21/05:
I was trying to get my lawn mower to start up when I heard my next door neighbor calling for his grandson.  His grandson is the same age as my son (3 yo).  I went over to help him find the kid.  We split up to look for him.  It was hot as blazes so there weren't too many people outside to ask.  

I ended up walking about 1/3 of the neighborhood and on the way back walked down GA 120 just in case.  I saw a guy trying to get his mower started at the first house in the neighborhood.  I stopped and asked if he'd seen the kid.  He said he had.  A mom in a mini-van had seen him walking along 120
and stopped to pick him up.  She pulled into the neighborhood and talked to the guy cutting his grass.  They saw the kids's grandfather down the street calling for him.  Kid returned safe and sound by an angel in a minivan.  

I was so relieved that the little boy is OK.  I was petrified that some lunatic would have picked him up.

Let the bashing begin on the grandfather.  

I've got a 3 Y/O little girl. She'll be four in November and you can't turn your back on these little devils for as much as a second at that age. They'll be off in a flash and have NO fear of animals, cars or people be they good or bad at this stage.

I'll hold off on the bashing. I'm just happy it turned out well.

TD

Quoted: I've got a 3 Y/O little girl. She'll be four in November and you can't turn your back on these little devils for as much as a second at that age. They'll be off in a flash and have NO fear of animals, cars or people be they good or bad at this stage. I'll hold off on the bashing. I'm just happy it turned out well. TD

That is a good point.

The little guy in question is really, really fast.  He runs circles around my son.  

Fast forward a few weeks...
9/10/05:

I got about a half a row mowed in my front yard when I hear somebody yelling at me.  I turn around and see a guy flashing his badge and holding my next door neighbor's kid.  He identified himself as an off duty GCPD office.  The first words out of my mouth were, "Oh SH!+.  I knew what had happened before the cop even opened his mouth.  I pointed at my next door neighbor's house.  The cop banged on the door and announced himself.  The front door was unlocked so he opened it and yelled inside.  No answer.  

Cop comes back to me and asks if he can use the phone.   I take my neighbor's kid from him and bring them inside my house.  That way the kid can play with my son and be someplace contained until the mess gets sorted out.  He calls GCPD and tells them the scoop.  They dispatch a uniformed officer to go search the house.  

The cop found the boy wandering along GA 120 walking toward Riverside parkway.  The little boy had run out in front of traffic causing about 10 cars to slam on their brakes to avoid squishing him.  Luckily everyone missed him and one of those 10 people was an off duty GCPD officer.  

When the officer was in our house, he was trying to get some information out of the little boy, like WTF his parents were.  The boy said that his 6 month old little brother was still in the house.  My wife asked if she could go search the house to see if the baby was really there.  The cop tells her no, that the uniformed guy would be there shortly.  He told her if she hadn't asked and gone in there due to her concern for the kid's safety, then it would have been OK.  I would have been concerned for her safety going into somebody else's house.  

The uniformed officer finally arrives and finds  the kid's Dad in the house somewhere.  I presume he was sleeping, but don't really know.

I went over there after mowing my lawn and left them some door know protectors to keep the boy from opening the door.  I banged on the door and got no answer.  The front door was not even closed all the way.  I left the door knob protectors on their front steps.  Their front door is one of those with the curved handle and the thing you push down with your thumb.  They need to put another lock on their front door to keep the kid inside.  

The cops left without telling us anything else.  I think they will get DFACS involved.  We told the cop about the previous incident on 8/21/05.  I don't want to see my neighbors get in trouble, but that means nothing to me when compared to the kid's safety.  The kid's safety is paramount.  

The cop looked inside the neighbor's house, and it is totally trashed.  I'm wondering if it will get condemned.  I hope that for once the state can do something right and protect this child and his little brother.  

I am really, really, really worried that this kid is going to get killed.  I don't know WTF to do.  It makes me sick.  If he got out at night and ran onto 120...

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Unless there were signs of abuse the LE won't contact DCFS. Given the condition of DCFS in GA I'd have wonder if the kids would be safer in their custody.

Bad situation all around. I don't like getting the govt involved but I wouldn't want to see the kid get killed because of my failure to act. And it sounds like he almost got killed twice. His odds of surviving a three outings into traffic are not good.

Drop the dime. [ETA: That means call DCFS anonymously or personally] Maybe it will scare the parents into action. Something tells me this isn't the first or last time the government's had to get involved in their lives.

Remeber those two under-4 kids who drowned in the retention pond earlier this year? The mother in that case had been under DCFS observation several times before the kids died, for letting them roam around the streets and neighborhoods unattended.

IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S TIME TO START THE BASHING AND FINGER POINTING!!!

This is a classic case of unfit parents and something needs to be done, but what?

TD  

Quoted: Unless there were signs of abuse the LE won't contact DCFS. Given the condition of DCFS in GA I'd have wonder if the kids would be safer in their custody. Bad situation all around. I don't like getting the govt involved but I wouldn't want to see the kid get killed because of my failure to act. And it sounds like he almost got killed twice. His odds of surviving a three outings into traffic are not good. Drop the dime. [ETA: That means call DCFS anonymously or personally] Maybe it will scare the parents into action. Something tells me this isn't the first or last time the government's had to get involved in their lives. Remeber those two under-4 kids who drowned in the retention pond earlier this year? The mother in that case had been under DCFS observation several times before the kids died, for letting them roam around the streets and neighborhoods unattended.

Not true, LE is required by law to report all incidents involving children to DFACS.

I tell you what, I have a 2 and a half year old son and a 9 month old daughter. My son does not get out of my sight. If I am tired and they are awake I make coffee or find some other way to wake up. I also put another lock on my door about 6 feet high.  I work in retail and about once a month we get a code adam, And atleast once a week, I see some small child wondering scared looking for thier parents. WTF is wrong with them. What drives me nuts is parents letting thier kids climb on ladders and shit like its a f*&king playground. Makes me wanna beat the shit out of them. One time I was walking down the aisle and saw a carraige setting in the middle of the aisle with noone around. I though surely not but as I came around it sure enough small child sleeping and NOONE in sight. I waited there about 5 minutes before calling the store manager he came over and after about 10 minutes of me watching from a distance the childs sorry ass mother came over  all non chalont about it and grabbed the stroller. I stopped her and asked her to please not leave her child unnatended in the store for the childs safety. She was all like "I just walked over there for a second to get this, and was watching the whole time." I told her "Ma'am I watched your child alone for a good 10 minutes and you were no where to be found," Then my manager called me away as she stormed off in a huff....F*$KING BI%CH

Quoted: Quoted: Unless there were signs of abuse the LE won't contact DCFS.Given the condition of DCFS in GA I'd have wonder if the kids would be safer in their custody. Bad situation all around. I don't like getting the govt involved but I wouldn't want to see the kid get killed because of my failure to act. And it sounds like he almost got killed twice. His odds of surviving a three outings into traffic are not good. Drop the dime. [ETA: That means call DCFS anonymously or personally] Maybe it will scare the parents into action. Something tells me this isn't the first or last time the government's had to get involved in their lives. Remeber those two under-4 kids who drowned in the retention pond earlier this year? The mother in that case had been under DCFS observation several times before the kids died, for letting them roam around the streets and neighborhoods unattended. Not true, LE is required by law to report all incidents involving children to DFACS.

I hope P806 is right and JoeWang is wrong about the LEOs contacting DCFS.  The off-duty cop was truly pissed.  He said he was going to get DCFS involved.  I didn't get a chance to talk to the uniformed cop.  I wish I had.  

They just need to secure their f'ing house.  How hard can that be?

I've tried knocking on their door to see if I could help them secure their house better, but they never come to the door.  

Looks like I'll be calling DCFS on Monday just to make sure something is happening.  

Thanks for your responses.  I wasn't sure wtf to do.  I really don't want another sad story in the news, there are too many of them already.  

The inside of their house is so trashed, I would be surprised if they don't condemn it or say it is unfit for humans.  No floor coverings, no stove, mattresses on the floor.  The list goes on and on.  I was hoping that DCFS would force them to do something to clean it up, or get GC code enforcement to do something.