TAYLOR (WWJ) - Downriver police addressed a concerning rise in reports of children being followed in neighborhoods after school hours in the City of Taylor.
Authorities are urging citizens to be aware of their surroundings and to teach children how to stay safe when walking home or in public after receiving at two incidents of a stranger approaching children in recent weeks.
Police say the first incident occurred in near the area of Van Born Rd. and Fellrath St. when a white van with unknown decals began following a young girl who was using the sidewalk.
According to police, the driver — an unknown male around 40-years-old — attempted to speak with the teen as she was walking.
A second incident was reported near Northline Road and Pardee where an unknown male in a red Buick Lacrosse parked in a store center parking space. Police said a child walked passed the vehicle when the man inside tried to speaking with them.
The man asked the child to open the car door and when they did, he attempted to grab the child's hand.
Taylor authorities said none of the children were harmed in either case and they're still working to identify the suspects.
In the meantime, police said it is important for parents to communicate with their children the importance of staying safe and offered the following tips:
• Make sure children know their full name, address and telephone number
• Be sure your children know how to call 911.
• Teach children never to accept rides or gifts from someone they don’t know.
• Make sure children take the safest routes to and from school, stores and their friends’ house.
• Tell your children to walk and play with friends, not alone.
• Children should avoid places that could be dangerous, such as vacant buildings, alleys, new construction, wooded areas etc.
The reports are still being investigated at this time as concern in the community mounts.
"Sad how our children not so safe these days," one user wrote on social media in response to the reports.
"Do not be out walking by yourself! Ever!' another commenter said.
"Unfortunately we can't be with them 24/7," another poster said, referencing the children in her family. "My granddaughter also had this happen to her [in the] John Daily [and] Vanborn area."
Anyone with information related to the incidents or anyone that has tips on suspicious persons or suspicious activity in their neighborhood has been asked to call the Taylor PD Detective Bureau at (734) 287-6611.