California Code, Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 307

(a) The officer may release the minor.

(b) The officer may prepare in duplicate a written notice for the parent or parents of the minor to appear with the minor before the probation officer of the county in which the minor was taken into custody at a time and place specified in the notice. The notice shall also contain a concise statement of the reasons the minor was taken into custody. The officer shall deliver one copy of the notice to the minor and a parent, guardian, or responsible relative of the minor and may require the minor and the parent, guardian, or relative to sign a written promise that he or she shall appear at the time and place designated in the notice. Upon the execution of the promise to appear, the officer shall immediately release the minor. The officer shall, as soon as practicable, file one copy of the notice with the probation officer.

(c) The officer may take the minor without unnecessary delay before the probation officer of the county in which the minor was taken into custody, or in which the minor resides, or in which the acts take place or the circumstances exist which are alleged to bring the minor within the provisions of Section 300, and deliver the minor into the custody of the probation officer.

In determining which disposition of the minor shall be made, the officer shall give preference to the alternative which least interferes with the parents' or guardians' custody of the minor if this alternative is compatible with the safety of the minor. The officer shall also consider the needs of the minor for the least restrictive environment and the protective needs of the community.