Calling the police to check on a crying baby

rubbish as a experienced dispatcher,
on the information given, inc raised voices, slamming of car doors and a baby in extreme distress, so potentially a DA incident yes they would ! Just a crying baby then no, and yes social services, but clearly as per her post that is not what she said !

Better for whom?
Are you suggesting we all call the police if a baby cries for a period? I can imagine it doing a lot of harm.

Op, all the posters who are saying you are wrong would be bitching and moaning if you hadn't done anything. You were worried and you did the right thing. Hope the baby is ok.

Unless I had other reasons to be concerned about the people living in that house, I'd have been more inclined to knock on the door first than call the police.

It's possible they are new parents with a colicky baby who won't settle, on a hot night when everyone is feeling frazzled and tetchy, the mum might have been struggling with BFing, they both got overwhelmed with the stress and ended up yelling at one another. I'm sure we've all been there. I know have.

I think I'd have knocked and asked if they were all okay? If I felt reassured that it was just the above situation I'd have offered to the rock the baby for 20 minutes to give them both a chance to take a break and gather themselves. As a complete stranger their instinct would probably be to say no, but sometimes even leaving your baby in the care of a middle aged woman completely unknown to you might seem better than the feeling that you might lose your mind and throw it out of the window any minute if the screaming doesn't stop.

If I got the vibes that I'd interrupted a DV situation then I'd call the police.

What a pathetic comment, she did completely the right thing !!!!!

Your DH was downstairs, fgs. One of you could have gone.

I’ll assume you missed the bit where the OP said her DH was downstairs? And no one said it was a “domestic dispute” it was a few raised voices. OP or her DH could have quite easily just gone for a walk to see what was going on before jumping in with both feet.

Thank you.

I would rather be told "you were wrong" than be asked "why didn't you do anything?" You did the right thing OP.

@Ohwhatabeautifulpudding

This response belongs in the 1970s when police wouldn't come out for "domestics" and women were beaten to death.

Ok then. I wasn’t there so my comments are based on my first assumptions of the situation. I would assume it was hot, the parents were stressed, baby was hot and bothered. None of us were there so we can’t really say what we would have done can we?

I just remember being in similar situations myself and it’s hard work. Someone calling the police on me when I was at my lowest ebb would have done more damage than good. I’m not saying OP shouldn’t have called the police though. That was her judgement and hers alone to make. And we can’t say whether it was right or not, because we weren’t there

"Yes, neighbours testified that they heard baby Preston Davey crying "an unusual amount". Residents next door described the crying as "high-pitched and distressed," which occasionally coincided with raised voices and sounds of frustration from inside the home."

As a dispatcher and ex police officer, I would send my officers and it wouldnt get any push back. We would rather take the risk of being wrong 99 times if it meant we got it right once.

Op I would of done the same thing too.

Ruby. Genuine question here not trying to be goady.

However if someone calls in there are raised voices and car doors slamming.and a baby crying loudly would that not dispatch police rather than tell the caller to call social service?

Hopefully the child is safe. As there was other noises slamming etc then you done the right thing ringing the police.
Without the added noise, I would have knocked on the door to check DM hadn’t fainted or anything.

I'll assume you missed the bit about op having 3 kids in bed. It's not advised to get involved in domestic disputes.

I love it when posters explain the initialisations they use in their posts and wish others would do the same. Thank you 👍🏻

About 40 years ago, I was a single parent and was given a council flat in a village where everybody in the street knew each other or were related. The couple in the flat above me had adopted a baby who had a lot of health issues and cried a lot. One night I was woken, about 2am by the police hammering on my door, as a "neighbour" had rung them and said my baby was screaming and I had gone out and left her alone. The police came in and quickly saw that me and my daughter had obviously been sound asleep. What annoyed me was that the assumption had been made that because I was a single parent - and back then, there was still a massive stigma around that - it MUST be my baby that was crying and not the baby of the married couple upstairs. It was just another example of people's prejudice at the time - my baby was probably the best looked after in the street! And we were very visible, I was always taking her for walks around the village and anyone could see she was happy and well-cared for. But I'll never forget the police's attitude towards me 😕

If it got to an hour o would have reported it too or possible gone and had a look if I felt safe to do so. . People saying social services, it’s unlikely they would be going in the middle of the night. But an ongoing concern (as opposed to a immediate concern) ss would be the right call

You don't know that it is 'not a police issue' and you can't assume that heat is the 'likely cause'...

Which why it is important that people report their concerns so that the welfare of the child can be checked.

This thread is really making me angry and no wonder we have so many kids that end up being hurt/neglected because people are unwilling to act.

Better safe than sorry.

OP could have walked the 100m down the road to see if the parents were consoling the baby or not, but she couldn’t be bothered to. I’d have got DH to do that, at least, if I was her before bringing the police to their door.

DH and I were reported to the police as suspicious, as we were birdwatching near (but not in) a residential area.
The fact that we are a retired couple with binoculars and a telescope looking out into a marsh didn't register.

However in OPs situation, If I was worried and heard shouting rather than just a baby crying, I'd have reported it too.

OP you did the right thing. My first thought before I call 999 is “is there a threat to life?” With the banging, slamming car doors, raised voices. With the heat, the World Cup and possibly drinking alcohol I would assess that situation as a yes.

Not a police issue. It's hot pretty much everywhere which is likely to be the cause.

Like others I would have knocked to see if I could help. At home with DC and no other adult? Call one of the neighbours to see if they can check or if they have noticed.
In this weather children and babies are fractious (so am I but I have other ways of expressing it!).

I’m astonished that the police could speedily respond to a call about a baby crying in the heat and on a Friday night. I’m even more surprised that they shared details of other calls with the OP.

One of mine had colic, it was distressing and miserable and involved a couple of hours crying every night and nothing worked to ease it. As new parents finding my new neighbours couldn’t trouble to introduce themselves but just tried to send the police round would have finished me off and visiting the estate agent.