'Fake police officers' approach young girls outside school and offer lift in car

West Midlands Police confirmed two 11-year-olds had given officers accounts of separate ordeals, which happened as they walked in Sutton Coldfield

Men posing as police officers wearing fluorescent jackets have approached girls outside a school and offered them lifts.

West Midlands Police confirmed two 11-year-olds had given officers accounts of separate ordeals, which happened as they walked in Sutton Coldfield.

Arthur Terry School sent out an alert following the incidents last Wednesday, reports the Birmingham Mail.

Police said both girls reported being approached by men in a silver car displaying chevrons.

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: “We have been made aware of two pupils from a Sutton Coldfield school being approached by a man in a silver car whilst on their way to school last week.

“An 11-year-old girl, who was walking alone on Clarendon Road, Four Oaks at around 8am on Wednesday 4 February when she was approached by two men in a silver car with chevrons who asked her if she needed a lift.

“A few minutes later another 11-year-old girl from the same school was also approached near to Slade Road by men in a similar car.

“The men were believed to have been wearing fluorescent jackets.

“The matter was reported to police around an hour later and officers have since spoken with the children and their parents”

The police said there had been no similar reports in the area since the incident but urged parents to speak to their children about ‘stranger danger’ and to call them immediately if they noticed any suspicious activity.

The school’s own alert said: “This morning, Wednesday 4th February 2015 at between 07.50hrs and 08.00hrs, three female Year 7 Arthur Terry students were approached on two separate occasions whilst on their way to school, once in Clarendon Road and once on the Harvest Fields estate, by what appeared to them to be a marked police car.

“The vehicle contained two men wearing fluorescent jackets and the girls thought they were police officers.

“The men asked the girls if they were okay and if they needed a lift.

“The girls felt something wasn’t right ignored the men and walked off, they saw the vehicle drive around the Harvest Fields estate again three times before it disappeared.

“Please be mindful of your safety when travelling home, particularly if you live in the vicinity of the areas mentioned in this alert.”

One mother whose daughter attends Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls said she left “worried” when she learned of the incident in an end of week email bulletin.

She said: “It’s worrying because I have a daughter in Year Seven.

“These men were targeting 11-year-olds. I have spoken to my daughter.

“They were trying to pass off as police officers.

“I read that bulletin and thought it’s really scary because you have police officers in unmarked cars, how are children meant to know?”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fake-police-officers-approach-young-5137737

The parents must be scared stiff, because most children would believe someone in a police uniform without question.

Wondered if anyone had heard of it happening in any other part of the country?

west midland eh???? hmmmmmmmmmmmm