A fellow by the name of Oscar Rabadan of Wheeling, Illinois, had visitation with his kids (a 14-year-old and a 9-year-old) over the weekend. He was to bring them back at 8:00 PM.

At 10:30, their mother, Adriana De Leon, called the police.

Now, Oscar and Adriana are apparently on the outs. There appears to be an order of protection against Rabadan which specifically prohibits him from concealing the children.

Now, protection orders are issued by judges.

Who interpret the law.

And create a set of expectations about what people can and can't do.

And, apparently, this judge specifically prohibited Oscar here from concealing the children.

Now, we're out of court, and Oscar's violated that set of expectations, so, of course, we should turn to the police.

Which, in this case, is the Gurnee, Illinois Police Department.

And they have indicated they aren't issuing an Amber Alert because the case does not indicate "a direct threat to the safety of the children."

And, y'know, he's probably right. I mean, it's the kids' dad. He's just got them at his apartment, they're just staying a few extra days.

Oh, wait. The police were told he cleaned out his belongings in Wheeling, and may be headed to San Antonio, Texas, or the surrounding area.

"Surrounding area?" Could that mean, like, Mexico?

Yeah, no direct threat here.

Other than the fact that these kids may never see their mother again.

BTW, this article from the News-Sun Online is fascinating in its description of the things said by Police Commander Jay Patrick.

First, he makes the aforementioned comment about not issuing an Amber Alert due because "there is not a direct threat to the safety of the children."

Then he says that Oscar has filed court papers in an attempt to gain custody, and a hearing is scheduled later this month.

He then said there was an active order of protection against Oscar.

And then he mentions that the guy cleaned out his apartment and may be headed for points south.

Jay? Jay? Are you listening to yourself and what you're saying? Because I am.

I like that you first pointed out that Oscar filed for custody. Jay, a lot of people can file a lot of things, but that doesn't mean that they are entitled to them. For instance, just to pick something at random, the kids' mother could file a complaint against you for not getting domestic violence and assuming that the fact custody has been filed for means that his taking them isn't a bad thing. She probably wouldn't be entitled to get anything, but she could file for it.

So, just based on her complaint, we should fire you? And just because Oscar filed for custody (the way he would take custody of them legally,) we should turn our heads when he can't be troubled with laws and rules and hearings and just takes them illegally?

What you're really saying, Jay, is that this is just a nasty divorce and they're fighting over custody and possession is nine-tenths of the law. Right? I mean, we can level with each other here. That's what you MEANT to say, right?

And these kids don't deserve their mother. I mean, the parents are fighting, so clearly, it's a screwed up family, and they're just going to end up screwed up, so, why trouble yourself, right?
(Of course, maybe these kids will end up screwed up from not having a mom, but let's not trouble ourselves with that little detail, OK? I mean, these are facts, and we wouldn't want to get into those in domestic relations.)

Oh, and the fact you ACKNOWLEDGE there is a protection order (which, where I come from, only gets handed down when someone does something bad), might give some people all they need to know to think there might be a direct threat to the kids.

But, not you.

And, sadly, many other law enforcement officials across the country are the same way. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard, "Oh, it's just a messy divorce" as a reason for law enforcement not stepping in, I could be on easy street for the rest of my life.

It's just a messy divorce, so, parents don't really deserve protection, do they?

How about kids? Nah.

It's just the law. It's not like we want the police to, y'know, enforce it or anything.