Rochester, NH Police Visit 4-Year-Old Who Refused To Buckle Up

ROCHESTER, NH (CBS) - Four-year-old Teighan Donnell likes to push her mom's buttons and one of her favorite tricks is to unbuckle her seat belt.

Her mom Heather says she got so frustrated with her daughter's behavior that she took her to the police department.

Rochester Police were on shift change, but soon Officer Eric Krans came to the home, armed with a speech about the importance of seat belts.

"Being a school teacher I know the cops are there to educate us and the children just as much as they are to help to put criminals away," said Heather.

Heather posted a thank you on the department's Facebook page and the community chimed in. Most praised both mom and officer with comments like "It takes a village to raise a child" and "It is nice to hear someone saying something nice about our police officers."

But some posts were critical. "It's ridiculous to use a police officer to help discipline your child," said one person. And another wrote "...a cop has better stuff to do than make house calls telling your kid to buckle up..."

Rochester Police say they frequently send officers to homes to deal with juvenile issues or for other reasons not typically thought of as police issues.

"We don't want parents coming to the police department for everything," said Rochester Police Captain Paul Toussaint. "But in a situation like this where the mother's tried everything, if we can be of any assistance then we're glad to help."