I suspect that this has less to do with the police than adults, like school administrators and teachers, who instead of disciplining children want them arrested and charged with crimes.
Police often seem to think that they *must* be responsive to such adults, so end up being the “bad guys” instead of telling the adults that they have the authority to discipline, so unless it is a serious crime, to not bother the police.
Another problem is the reckless insistence that police treat everyone equally. No, the rich and the poor do not have the same rules of behavior, nor do adults and children, so treating a misbehaving child like they were an adult who did the same thing is downright stupid.
This comes under the head of police good judgment.
Even children do not come under the same behavioral rules as other children. 16 year olds are not like 10 year olds who are not like 5 year olds. There are indeed many 16 year olds who are gentle and well behaved. But there are also some 5 year olds who show all the symptoms of being violent, out of control psychopaths.
Police *must* exercise good judgment, not just rely on the opinions of others.
“I suspect that this has less to do with the police than adults, like school administrators and teachers, who instead of disciplining children want them arrested and charged with crimes.”
Teachers are no longer allowed to touch children, let alone discipline them. The children get physical and need to be dealt with so the school admins have no choice but to call the police who *are* authorized to lay their hands on the little dindus.