

Opinion: Chandler police and DCS overreacted, but not by kicking in the door of the parents who refused to get help for their feverish son.


The headlines have been horrifying.

“Arizona officers storm house with guns drawn over toddler with a high fever,”shouted NBC news.

“Police officers with guns drawn raid Arizona home for boy with 105-degree fever,” screamed FOX News.

“SWAT team with guns drawn raids Arizona home for toddler with fever,said one San Francisco TV station.

This, because a Chandler mother refused to take her unvaccinated son, who was lethargic and spiking a high fever, to the emergency room.

'Not the country that I recognize'

Count Rep. Kelly Townsend among the horrified.

“The doctor chose to use DCS to remove the child, and DCS chose to use the police, and the police chose to use the SWAT team," she told The Republic'sDianna Náñez. "That is not the country that I recognize."

This, from the legislator who recently warned about the commie plot to force parents to vaccinate their kids.

Before we go all Townsend and start referring to Chandler police as storm troopers, let’s take a breath.

Something did go wrong here but it’s not because police knocked down a door. It’s because the police and DCS now won’t let that door close.

Náñez broke the story of the Chandler mother who took her 2-year-old son to the doctor in February for a 105-degree fever.

Here's what happened

The child was unvaccinated and fearing meningitis, the doctor told the mother to take him to the emergency room. Instead, the mother took him home and called the doctor to report the fever was gone.

Again the doctor explained that the child could have a life-threatening illness and the mother agreed to go.

Three hours later, the child still was a no-show at the hospital and Chandler police were at the door, having been asked by the Department of Child Safety to check on the toddler’s welfare.

Police spent close to three hours trying to convince the parents to allow them to check on the child.The father refused even to open the door, saying the boy was OK.

After two and a half hours of stalemate, a judge issued a warrant and officers kicked down the door, with guns drawn, as they tend to do when facing what may be a dangerous situation.

All three children were taken to the hospital where doctors determined the toddler had RSV, a respiratory virus that can cause serious illness in young children.

Was this overkill? 

Now the parents and Townsend have been making the media rounds this week to decry what they say was overkill.

“Parents felt the child was fine, Townsend said. “Next thing we know, the Gestapo is at their door.”

Here’s the question Townsend hasn’t answered.

What if the child had had meningitis, as the doctor feared? What if he had died because DCS and Chandler police walked away based on the assurances of a father who refused to open the door, even with a warrant?

Would Townsend be so quick to cry Nazi?

I know what I would have written. And it wouldn’t have been flattering to DCS or the Chandler police.

But while the cops may have felt they had to break down the door, they don’t have to continue their pursuit of the parents.

Payback time?

On Thursday, Chandler police recommended that the parents be charged with child abuse. This, more than a month after the incident and just days after the parents went public with their story.

It smells like payback… or maybe CYA.

Then there is DCS. The agency took all three children that night and having sunk its hooks into this family, it seems unwilling to let go. More than a month later, the kids still aren’t home and DCS is making the parents jump through all manner of hoops to regain custody.

Yes, the parents may have harmed their son by leaving his RSV untreated. But how much more damage was done by DCS taking all three children away from their parents and putting them into three separate foster homes?

A month later, the children are now with their grandparents but state still has custody and those hoops?

They’re about to get a whole lot higher if charges are filed.

Is there evidence to show a pattern of medical neglect of these kids, who range in age from 2 to 6? If so, it wasn't presented during a recent court hearing in this case.

If there isn't, DCS should back off.

Refusing to vaccinate your children is stupid and dangerous and frankly, it's selfish. But it's not against the law.

Ripping little kids away from their parents for no good reason? That's child abuse.

Reach Roberts at


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