For police, sometimes it’s the small crimes that create the biggest problems. Take the case of Monona, Wisconsin.

Situated adjacent to the state capital of Madison, this town of 7,500 is mostly immune to big-city crime — in fact, you have to back three years to find a major incident. In 2010, an officer had to shoot and kill a bank robber.

That doesn’t mean police chief Walter Ostrenga and his 20 officers don’t have other crimes and misdemeanours to investigate.

Thefts are a major problem — and so is bullying.

With a large high school population of 1,500 students and with a major university in Madison, this is fertile territory for kids to harass others, either in person or online.

And what makes the police job harder is that Monona’s parents have been known to block investigative efforts.

Last year, police got tired of turning up at a youth’s home to question the parents, only to have the door slammed in their face.

“Some people, you go and knock on their door, and they say, ‘Hey, my kid’s perfect, mind your own business,’ and they slam the door in your face and the bullying continues,” Ostrenga told the Toronto Star.

Det. Sgt. Ryan Losby, himself a parent who was concerned about research he’d seen on the damaging effects of bullying, believed he had an answer.

He wondered if the parents would co-operate if the town could levy a fine against the parents.

Over the last year, he worked on drafting such a municipal ordinance.

After countless reviews at the committee level and with the local school board, Monona passed a http://www.mymonona.com/ImageFiles/5-13-645%20Prohibiting%20Bullying%20&%20Harassment.pdf on May 20 that would allow parents to be fined if their child was found to be a repeat bully.

The municipality was careful to adopt the same language in the broader state law that has already been tested in court. And the parent-liability clause is part of a larger ordinance passed by city council to prohibit bullying and harassment.

A first violation of the parent-liability clause carries a $114 fine. Subsequent violations within the same year carry fines of $177 each. A parent or guardian must be informed in writing by an officer of a separate violation of bullying by the same minor within the prior 90 days.

Monona is believed to be the first town in the U.S. with such a parent-liability fine.

The story made headlines in Wisconsin and was picked up by news organizations across the country.

“It took a year because it was a different idea,” Ostrenga said. “We’re trying to make a big deal out of it. By making it a municipal ordinance, it non-criminalizes it so the officers can just issue a citation.”

The fine is seen as a tool of last resort. Parents who make an effort to address their child’s concerns would not be ticketed.

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“If we never have to write a ticket, we’ll be happy,” Ostrenga said. “We might never write a ticket. But having this on the books hopefully will be a deterrent.”

The town’s mayor, Bob Miller, told the Star that this parent-liability clause was intended to be a “wake-up call” to parents who may not be attuned to what their children are doing at home on the Internet.

“There are parents who just believe their children could never do something that was inappropriate,” the mayor said.

He added that the ordinance has bite to it, but “it’s not looking like we’re looking to bust parents.”