Call the police?? Worried about stranger

It's so easy to sit there at home, contemplating a situation and then decide that you would have taken the perfect action in that moment.

I guess if you heard about someone pulling over on a motorway at 9pm and getting their kid out of the car and something tragic happened you would be one of those who would jump online and day "I would never risk my child's life like that, what was the parent even thinking of".

Op did her best, what are you gaining by imagining what you would do and berating someone who did her best under the circumstances.

I don’t care I would have pulled over and got DC out or called the police straight away. Can’t believe people even have to ask on a forum what is the right thing to do. ..

It may be worrying, but with the state of the police and emergency services, the thought of making calls that are unwarranted and take time away from other emergencies that they can barely attend to anyway is very real. And none of that it OP’s fault to be nervous of.

Ignore the dick heads. You did the right thing by calling the police.

I can't believe a person comes here, wasting precious time and risking the unimaginable. I wish people would act - so much would have been avoided. But we became awful as human beings. The other day I was on a long journey from London to Oxenholme and the train stopped and they explained why. It was horrid - fucks flew around the carriage because people were thinking of themselves being late, not because of 'passenger action'. Same with the so-called non-interference. My sister regularly complains to me of neighbours beating (not smacking) their children, and she does not report them saying she does not want to be called a racist. So I called and she did not speak to me for ages.

i live not far from a motorway bridge and my daughter when a teen used to like to watch the cars go by when she went for a walk - she had police called a couple of times to check she was ok - I thought it was lovely people had cared enough to call

I reported a post for homophobic language a couple of weeks ago, nothing was done about it.

I have raised concern and reported several times about the "language" used by some on this firm. It gets rejected and pulled under the carpet. Seems to me like moderators are also enjoying the filth on the forum.

This.
Can’t you make your mind up in what could be a life or death situation?
Call first.
Get on social media second.

@CaptainBolt and @StringTheory1 😘🌷.

It really is, isn't it? I've left Facebook for the same reason. Bloody nasty

@Frogpole How fucking rude are you? How on earth do I look “delusional” for suggesting she trusts her instinct in future?

And can you point me to where I suggested for a second that if he jumped it would be the OP’s fault? It’s ok, I will wait….

But let’s imagine you or a loved one urgently needed the emergency services. Would you hope they would call asap? I imagine you would

You did the right thing and also how were you to know it wasn't to bait you for your car? It's one thing to have to look out for yourself, but having your child on board is your first priority over any one else.

About 20 years ago my father was witness to a suicide from (his words) "a very high bridge over the M1" in that area, so I wonder if it was the same bridge. His coat was used to cover the poor young woman who died.

The police gave him his coat back. He burned it and had 2 weeks off work as he simply couldnt process what he had seen. He still occasionally mentions it now, it will never leave him.

You did the right thing.

It's amazing how seeing something out of the ordinary can really hit you. The OP was just asking for support. I wouldn't necessarily know what to do if I saw what the OP did. You might get a feeling of something being not right, at least the OP hasn't ignored it and asked for support. I earn £3 a day by the way 🤣. No I don't. Or do I?

It was a joke. Please refer to your sense of humour.

@LovelyBitOfHam please would you refer any of us who're interested (I am) to the sources from which you got that figure and the information regarding the employment positions of the people you refer to ?

I think this is a really important conversation that you've made OP, good on you.

You called it in.

For the people who are shaming you, I live somewhere where people do jump, and no, I wouldn't be happy stood there with them at that height. Firstly, I wouldn't want to be stood there under no circumstances, and there is no barrier, and secondly, I'm not going to risk going over for someone else. You are fucking stupid if you are not trained and you're going to put yourself into that situation.

And yet they’re always high flyers who earn 150k+ and manage dozens of people.

Well done, @prawncocktail2 You probably saved a life tonight by being bothered enough to care. And I totally agree with what @DoIdriveaVauxhallZafira posted.

If you think there's the remotest possibility that someone may be about to kill themselves, you dial 999.

That is what we should be encouraging people to do here.

ETA: We shouldn't be encouraging people to faff about on internet forums first.

I disagree with criticising people for needing reassurance about calling 999. It can be a daunting, even scary thing to do, and people are often worried about wasting the time of emergency services.

Think it all you want, but when you criticise people online for needing a bit of reassurance about taking action, you only discourage others from checking in the future - and they may not act without it.

There can be many reasons people find it hard to make the decision by themselves, and many which would deserve empathy not criticism. Not forgetting that most people who ask don't have, or feel they have, someone they can ask in person. If you're driving along with your spouse or friend you can say 'do you think we should..? What if...?' which really isn't very different from seeking reassurance here.

How is it ever wasting their time OP?
You ring it in on 999 and they decide what to do which will ALWAYS be a grade 1.

DH is police and has been to 12 suicides in the past 8 weeks. All men. His 8 officers are aged 21-35 and they are all dealing with this. They don’t get a gentle intro to it, they have to just deal with it.

If you can help someone who is in distress always, always call the police on 999.

Op, you did a good thing. Lots of people are so sure of what they would do when they are sat at home, but it’s not always that clear in the moment.