7-318 - Custody of Children

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Home/Policies/Volume Seven - Field Operations / Chapter 300 - Specific Call Procedures/Custody of Children
7-317 - Removing Personal Effects
7-319 - Espionage or Sabotage Activities

7-318 - Custody of Children

Purpose

The purpose of the policy is to establish protocol and procedure related to custody of children, both parental and non-parental.

Policy

Custody of Children by a Parent

Requests to remove child from parent custody

Only a court of record may take a child from the custody of one or both of the child’s parents.

  1. If an member reasonably concludes that a child is in no danger, as to health and welfare, the complaining party should be advised to initiate a court action.
  2. In the event of threats or actual physical violence, members shall take whatever action is necessary to protect the child. Members shall inform their supervisor if the actions taken included removing the child.

Visitation violations

MN Statute section 609.26 states that a person is in violation of visitation rights of a parent when that person “takes, obtains, retains, or fails to return a minor child from or to the parent in violation of a court order, where the action manifests an intent substantially to deprive that parent of rights to parenting time or custody.”

Member on-scene response
  1. Members shall verify the status by checking records such as NCIC, Odyssey and paper records, if possible. If an member cannot access the court orders, the member shall contact the Strategic Information Center (SIC) or MECC Channel 7 for assistance in verifying the status.
  2. Members shall also check for Domestic Abuse No Contact Orders (DANCOs) and Orders for Protection (OFPs) in accordance with P&P 7-314.
  3. If members have reason to believe that the child may be transported out of the state by the non-custodial parent, immediate enforcement actions will be initiated.
  4. If any transfer of custody is going to happen as a result of the visitation violation situation, including if the transfer is for health and welfare (in accordance with P&P 8-205), the member shall notify a supervisor to respond to the scene and approve the transfer.
  5. If transfer of custody is not authorized at the scene, the member may still refer the victim to the Crimes Against Children unit.
  6. Members shall make a Police Report on visitation violations, with the code DEPCPR.
Supervisor response
  1. Supervisors who are notified of an incident involving visitation violations shall respond to the scene.
  2. The supervisor shall review and approve the transfer of custody in accordance with MN Statutes or determine that custody should not be transferred (MN Statutes Chapter 518D, Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act).
  3. Supervisors needing assistance should contact First Response or the City Attorney’s Office for possible advice.
Referrals to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office
  1. Hennepin County has indicated they will review referrals for criminal charging in these situations on a case-by-case basis. Some of the factors they consider include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Substantial effort made to hide child
  • Removal from state to deprive of custody
  • Child was in custody of county
  1. If any of these factors are part of the case facts, members shall make sure they are part of the referral.

Custody of Children by a Person Other Than a Parent

If a person who is not a parent has a court order for custodial time and there is a request or dispute regarding custody, members shall follow the same procedures listed above as they would for a parent.

 

Definitions

Refer to the Commonly Used Terms page for general definitions.

  • CIC: CIC is the code, which stands for "Crisis Intervention Call," used on a Police Report for situations involving a transport hold, and when a Police Report is completed in other situations involving a person in crisis.
  • Confidential Informant:

    A person who cooperates with a law enforcement agency confidentially in order to protect the person or the MPD’s intelligence gathering or investigative efforts, and:

    1. Seeks to:
      1. Avoid arrest or prosecution for a crime; or
      2. Mitigate punishment for a crime in which a sentence will be or has been imposed; or
      3. Receive a monetary or other benefit;
    2. Is able, by reason of the person’s familiarity or close association with suspected criminals, to:
      1. Make a controlled buy or controlled sale of contraband, controlled substance, or other items that are material to a criminal investigation;
      2. Supply regular or constant information about suspected or actual criminal activities to a law enforcement agency;
      3. Otherwise provide information important to ongoing criminal intelligence gathering or criminal investigative efforts.
  • Domestic Abuse: Physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or the infliction of fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury or assault, terroristic threats, criminal sexual conduct, or interference with an emergency call, when committed between family or household members.
  • Domestic Abuse No Contact Order: An order issued by a judge in a pending criminal case or during the probationary period following a conviction, prohibiting a defendant from having contact with a victim or their address. The Offense code to use for a violation of a Domestic Abuse No Contact Order is VDNCO.
  • First Response: First Response (Community Based First Response) social workers are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. First Response handles emergency shelter placements, telephone assessments of families in crisis and takes child & adult protection reports.
  • MECC: Minneapolis Emergency Communications Center is the city's 911 center that answers emergency and non-emergency calls and coordinates the appropriate response by public safety services.
  • National Crime Information Center: The National Crime Information Center database helps criminal justice professionals apprehend fugitives, locate missing persons, recover stolen property, and identify terrorists. It also assists law enforcement officers in performing their official duties more safely and provides them with information necessary to aid in protecting the general public.
  • Parent/Legal Guardian: "Parent" means the birth or adoptive mother or father of a child and does not apply to a person whose parental rights have been terminated in relation to the child. A legal "guardian" is a person who has been appointed by a judge or social services agency, to take care of a minor child (to include foster parents).
  • Police Report: A report or statement in a report that sets forth the officer's account of an incident and is entered into the MPD's Records Management System.
  • Source Individual: Source Individual (SI) is an individual, living or dead, whose blood, tissue, or potentially infectious body fluids may be a source of bloodborne pathogen exposure to another person. Examples include, but are not limited to, a victim of an accident, injury or illness, or a deceased person.
7-317 - Removing Personal Effects
7-319 - Espionage or Sabotage Activities

Document History:

Title Effective Date Revision Type Download
7-318 - Custody of Children 01-01-2026 download PDF
7-318 - Custody of Children 06-20-2022

PRH Implementation

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Revision Types and Descriptions

  • New: Policy had been added.
  • Combined: Two or more policies were merged.
  • Definitions Update: A glossary definition was updated.
  • Terms Update: A term, not necessarily tied to the glossary, was updated in the Manual.
  • Edited - Major: Significant content or procedural changes.
  • Edited - Minor: Small edits, clarifications, or formatting changes.
  • Renamed: Policy title changed.
  • Renumbered: Policy number was changed.
  • Split: Single policy was divided into multiple.
  • Eliminated: Policy was removed and is no longer in effect.
  • PRH Implementation: Edits for the Policy and Resource Hub; no content changes.