Told not to cooperate with police.
Location: Indiana
Hello, I hope this is the right place to post this. I work for a public library. I'm at a smaller branch within a larger system. As an organization, we have strict policies regarding privacy, and basically we can't tell anyone that anyone else is in or has been in, etc. This includes law enforcement. Obviously I understand why this is important and 100% agree with it at almost all times. We are supposed to be a safe space. Now, here is my issue. We have also been told we cannot assist police when it comes to missing children. I understand that some children run away from negative situations, and we still want to be a safe space. With teenagers that can look out for themselves more, I don't see AS big of an issue. Recently, we had an officer come in looking for a regular of ours who had taken off earlier that day. This child is 8 years old, and has special needs. The officer asked us to call if he came in-and I knew that I couldn't. Is this legal? Are there considerations that I am missing here? Every adult in the state is a mandatory reporter. This child could very well be in a dangerous situation, and I would never get over it if something were to happen and I could have helped.