Police may write a report even if they do not have enough information to arrest your child or write a citation. A report gives the police the foundation to investigate further. This means your child may be a suspect in at least one crime. At a later date, if the police feel like they've gathered enough information to charge a crime, they may arrest a child, get a warrant, or forward the report to the juvenile probation department. It's likely that the police report will be sent to the probation department. If the charge is serious, the probation department will forward the report to the District Attorney (DA). If further action is taken, you will receive notice of a court date in the mail, so keep a close eye on your mailbox. Use this intervening time wisely.  If your child gets a police report written about them, you must tell them not to talk about their encounter with law enforcement with anyone: not friends, family members, teachers, or school staff. Any of those individuals could be required to testify against your child later. You should also teach your child to avoid speaking to police or probation officers. You should tell your child to ask to speak to an attorney before answering any questions from a police or probation officer. If your child asks for an attorney, questioning has to stop. You can read more here about when juveniles can be questioned by police. You shouldn't even encourage your child to speak to you about the case. Your child's attorney is the only safe person for them to be discussing their arrest with.