Tips for parents from law enforcement after Rochester attempted abduction

(ABC 6 News) – The Rochester Police Department is investigating an attempted abduction that occurred in northwest Rochester Wednesday night.

Local law enforcement is advising parents to have these conversations with their kids.

"They need to have those conversations and then practice it with the kids so it isn’t something they have to think about, they just know," Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson said.

Sheriff Torgerson said the first thing is to make sure your kids know how to say ‘no’ to someone they don’t know. Torgerson also said to practice scenarios like your child is riding their bike next to a car. This is not to make the situation scary but to make it real, like a fire drill or active shooter drill.

While some things are common sense like knowing where your kids are and where they are going, he added when you’re going to a large event like a fair, to take a picture of your kids in the clothes they’re wearing at the time you enter the event or as you’re leaving your house.

"So if they do stray away at an event like that, you can show that picture or text that picture to an officer who then can text it to everybody there working that event and now everybody can see it," Torgerson said.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children offers tips and offers a free child safety program, KidSmartz with videos, games and worksheets.