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Police say parents
should watch children, send them in groups to catch bus
By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com
Police are advising parents
to keep a closer eye on children waiting on bus stops after reports of
a suspicious person trying to talk to a girl waiting alone for the bus
on two different occasions in three months.
“We’re also suggesting kids not go to the bus stop alone because
there’s safety in numbers,” said Lt. Beverly Trainor of the
Fayetteville Police Department.
In both cases, the man never left his vehicle, a unknown model red four-door
car, but he shouted at the girls — who ranged from middle school
to early high school age — in an attempt to get them to come closer
and talk to him, Trainor said. The vehicle was parked some distance away
from the area the victims were waiting alone, she added.
In both instances, the girls did the right thing, Trainor said —
they ran away to a safe place and found an adult to tell about the incident.
“We were just so proud those kids were smart enough not to go over
there and not talk to him, but to get an adult,” Trainor said. “...
They provided good descriptions, too (of the suspect).”
The incidents took place at two different bus stops, Trainor added.
It is not clear if the same suspicious person was involved in both incidents,
which happened at two different bus stops in town, Trainor said. Although
the physical descriptions of the suspicious person were similar in some
ways, they were different in others, she added.
“We don’t know what this person’s intentions were,”
Trainor said. “All we know is that he tried to strike up a conversation.
We’re just planning for the worst-case scenario.”
Officers have stepped up bus stop patrols but can’t be everywhere,
Trainor said, urging residents to report suspicious activity in their
neighborhood to police.
Trainor said police have noticed a marked increase in the number of parents
waiting with children at bus stops and escorting their children to the
bus stops.
The department also offers a “Stranger Danger” program which
they will teach to groups upon request to warn children of the dangers
of interacting with strangers.
“Anybody that asks, we’ll do that for them,” Trainor said.
The department also has pamphlets on the subject and can help parents
who want to bring up the topic with their children but don’t know
how to ease into the subject, she added.
Officers have been working with school officials to identify the locations
of all bus stops and bus routes, Trainor added.
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