Plano PD Calls Special Kidnapping Safety Meeting
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PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - An attempted kidnapping has parents in one North Texas community thinking hard about what to tell their children when it comes to safety.
Police called a special meeting Thursday night to brief parents on the latest information about Thursday's incident, and to offer safety advice.
When a man tried to grab a nine-year-old boy walking home from school Thursday, the attempted kidnapping gave Plano parents chills. Now police want all parents to talk to their children about safety.
Experts say rehearsing with children their full name, address, and phone number is essential.
"We've had to work on phone numbers. It didn't occur to me to teach him my cell phone number. I don't even know most people's cell phone numbers nowadays," Pammie Sichangwa said about her six-year-old son.
But police say those are just the basics, and last week's incident has forced some parents to be very blunt with their children about safety.
"I said don't walk home alone. You will be kidnapped, and you won't see Daddy, Mommy anymore," Peggy Yang said about her sons.
Many Plano parents were caught off guard by last week's news.
When police meet with parents, how to teach kids about strangers will be a key topic. For example, if children are followed, they're taught to scream specific information, like, "This person is trying to hurt me," not just, "help."
"We haven't talked about that enough, about what to do with a stranger. We've covered what to do if you get lost at the park, how to find a safe adult, but we haven't really covered what to do, how to scream no, how to draw attention to yourself, and I think a meeting like this would help," Sichangwa said.
The would be kidnapper from last week is described as driving a white minivan with tinted windows.
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