``I'm sorry, but I do not find this believable..''
Woj
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Okay, let me tell you, this almost happened to me at twelve. My mother was arrested and put in LA county jail on a drunk driving charge on a week night.
At two o'clock in the morning, two LAPD detectives showed up at the front door of our apartment. I made them identify themselves twice yelling through the door, before I opened it. They came in and told me to get dressed. I said what for, really pissing them off. They said they had my mother in jail and I had to spend the night downtown in CYA. I said fuck that, I didn't do anything wrong. They said, your legal guardian is in jail, you can not be left alone.
So I finally got it that they were going to take me to kid-jail unless I came up with something. I asked to call my dad who lived out in the Valley. They let me make the call. They talked to the old man on the phone, and decided it was legit, so they got an estimate of how long it would be before he came and got me and decided to leave.
So, that's how you can end up in jail as a kid. The social service system in the US is essentially an extention of the courts, corrections, and other state police functions. If not on the books, then as a practical matter on the street.
CG