Police say recent child-snatch rumours are false

[Janet]

The national police has formally denied various claims and rumours which have been doing the rounds recently that attempts have been made to snatch children from the streets. Last week there was a supposed case in Arico, and claims were made publicly that denuncias had been made to the Guardia Civil about it, but there was no such case, police say. Nor were there any grounds for two reports a little while ago in the Adeje area.

Police say that such stories, whether started maliciously, politically or mistakenly, do nothing but cause unnecessary alarm and fear for the public. Clearly, child safety is paramount, and all due care needs to be taken, but police are at real pains to reassure the public that there is not an individual or group of child-snatchers at large in south Tenerife, and say that no faith should be placed in the stories which appear in social media without any press or policial confirmation. JA

[Guanche]

We used to get these reports, at least one a month. Man talking to a child, woman talking to a child, man and woman (which was the usual one) trying to get a child into a car. Most of the time the men and women were never traced, but no child was taken. Of those that were most were simply asking directions, or themselves worried about the safety of the child. Or the man and women trying to get a child in the car were a family and the child was theirs. With that said it's better to get a false call than no call's at all.

[Perikles]

I'm really surprised that there are more reports of children being snatched than there are of their being dumped. I mean - how many people have lived with a small child and actually want to repeat or continue the process?

[Janet]

I agree with Pelinor that anyone with genuine concerns should contact the police, and the police too would wish them to do so. Their real annoyance is directed at rumours on Facebook, which then cause parents to double check with the police, effectively wasting their time checking if there's any substance to a report they shouldn't have listened to, and which would have had confirmation in the press if it had been true.

It's the morons after their minute of glory on Facebook for being the centre of attention who are on the receiving end of police fedupness in this instance, and those of not too many brain cells who then think the appropriate thing is to call the police to ask rather than check the press and disregard the Facebook post if there's nothing in credible sources.