6yo calls cops on dad for running red light

Robbie Richardson hopes to be a police officer when he grows up. Photo / Facebook

A six-year-old's efforts to report his dad's bad driving have left a police department in hysterics.

American boy Robbie Richardson was driving with his father when he noticed his dad run a red light. Dismayed by the misdemeanor, he announced he was going to call the police.

""I just kind of blew it off a little bit, you know, he's 6 years old," his father Mike Richardson told CNN.

But when they got home, Robbie dialed 911.

Massachusetts police officer Mike Bowes took the call in which the boy told him: "My daddy went past a red light... he was in the brand new car, my mommy's car..."

The dispatcher asked: "And then what happened?"

"And he had to go to the car wash and then he went past the red light."

At this point Bowes asked to speak to Robbie's father who sheepishly confirmed his son's claim.

He apologised for the inconvenience. Later Bowes said: "It's better than hearing the routine calls we get in the station."

Robbie's mum, Joleen McDonald says she is proud of her son, who hopes to be a police officer when he grows up.

"He thought he was doing the right thing," she said. Of the response the family have since received from the public, she says she can't believe how mny people are talking about Robbie.

"It brings a little humour to the world. That's what we need these days."