Under what circumstances can police officers take temporary emergency protective custody of a child?

Police officers can take temporary emergency protective custody of a child specifically when children are in imminent danger. This means that there is an immediate threat to the child's safety or health that necessitates swift action to remove the child from that hazardous situation. The concept of "imminent danger" refers to circumstances where harm is likely to occur immediately, requiring law enforcement to intervene quickly to protect the child from abuse or neglect.

In contrast, the other options involve situations that may be concerning but do not meet the immediate threat threshold necessary for emergency protective custody. For example, while a report of neglect is serious, it does not inherently indicate that a child is in imminent danger at that moment. Similarly, just because a child is going to school or a parent is missing does not imply that the child is at immediate risk requiring urgent protection.