To be so embarrassed

[soembarrassing19]

DP and myself were having a small argument on Xmas eve day about how much we had spent on the kids. I accidentally rang the police from my pocket and they came round due to hearing us arguing. They said it was due to them having no response on the phone and believed it to be a DV call.
They came round and took us into seperate room and asked us questions. We all laughed about it in the end but they did say it would have to go to social care as kids involved but the most we would probably get was a phone call. So embarrassed that this has happened.
Worse still, we knew the police officers through work.

@1point21 - I had no idea. No wonder SS are so bloody busy

Where I am ss are notified if the police are called and DCs are involved. It’s completely standard procedure

@HoopDeDoop Phones can VERY easily be tracked.

Cousin is a police call handler and unlike you expect they can't just trace mobile phones. They rely on them being registered to the address. I was surprised to learn this.

Why are people so quick to not believe? I’ve accidentally rang the police a few times but always noticed before it connected but if I was halfway through an argument with OP I probably wouldn’t realise.

Of course you can accidentally call the police.

But op first you say it was a pocket call. Then you say you did it when messing with your phone and only realised that you'd done it later from the call log. What was it .a pocket call or when you were messing with it? And if it was on your call log It means the call had disconnected and ended. Yet in your op you say they listened to you arguing then decided to act.

If you accidentally call the police they call you back. It's standard protocol. If the call had ended you'd have got th call back.

So basically you called the police, they heard you arguing, they acted, social services are to be involved, is that right?

@Groovinpeanut sure did. If you read the full thread you will see that my phone is playing up and and it's an iPhone. Stupid they are. Unfortunately for me at the time my passcode had the sequence 112 in it. I've changed it now 🙈

Would they call you back in a suspected domestic abuse situation. I'd have thought that could potentially cause someone to be at more risk if an abusive partner realised they'd called?

@Bluntness100 bit of both really. Was so bloody stressed with the stupid thing.
We weren't even arguing loudly as none of the kids woke up, thankfully.

Would they call you back in a suspected domestic abuse situation

Agree, in a clear domestic abuse situation they would not. Which then begs the question on what they were hearing. Minor bickering , and yes they would.

@IAmLEA hmm, not sure about that.

They don't have access to the addresses phone contracts are registered at.
Cell site data will show the nearest mast a phone pinged to when the call was made, but that gives you an accuracy of about 1-5 streets depending on how densely populated the area is.
Location services work through internet calls not mobile phone calls...

How else would they do it?

You originally said you called when in your pocket
Then said when you were messing with it
Its ok to call the police if you need them !
You are just trying to find out ( because you told the police you wanted no further action taken ) whether that will include a MERLIN report
Its easier for people to advise if you just tell the truth

Also social care aren't going to be involved. They have to be notified.

I can’t imagine the police would call back if it’s a suspected domestic abuse case and they suspected the caller had rang them on the sly?

How can it be both a pocket call and when you were messing with it because of issues with the lock screen?

@bricktop999 definitely the truth my partner looks like a teddy bear and is the least scary person I know.

@happycamper11 We had an incident at work of someone maliciously dialling 999 from a colleagues mobile phone due to a petty argument, the police turned up at our place of work. The phone was not registered to the place of work.

Call handlers can’t trace calls, but once the number is passed on to the police they can do it very quickly.

@Bluntness100 I don't know exactly when he call happened. It was either in my pocket or when I was messing with them. When I looked at the call log, it said the time I did it but I cannot remember what I was doing at the exact time.

I can’t speak for other phones, but I’ve just tried to touch my phone without unlocking it (wrong finger), and it switches to the ‘Emergency Call’ screen... so at a stretch I could see the pocket dial.

When I looked at the call log, it said the time I did it but I cannot remember what I was doing at the exact time

How can you not remember, I'm sorry I don't understand. You were fighting with your partner, that's what you said the police heard you doing.

@Bluntness100 yes I was but I cannot remember wether at the time the call was made wether my phone was in my pocket or in my hand fiddling with it.

There will be a report goes into school and then socail services will decided whever they need to visit or not, dont worry they are there to help.

I had my phone plugged into the car listening to Spotify by myself when suddenly I noticed it was dialling 112 through the Bluetooth. I hung up immediately and they rang back in case I was in danger. I was mortified and couldn’t apologise enough. From the weary response I got it didn’t seem like the first time this had happened.

@Karenisbaren I know they are there to help. I work with them on a daily basis in my job. I don't need them. It was an accident, exactly as it says in my first post.
I was just posting because I was embarrass by it.

Lots of non emergency calls to the emergency devices are “butt dials”. I think if you dial 5 while on the phone to them it’s a code for being unable to talk because a DV incident.

As far as I know it’s standard for the police to automatically contact SS about any call relating to DV or any other safe guarding issue regarding children. And do you know what? That’s a good thing if it’s stopping even one child slipping through the net and ending up dead. If there’s no other issues within your family social care will leave you to it as their caseloads are huge as it is.

Working alongside Children's Services does not make you immune to requiring assessment. The 'minor' argument 'which wasn't even loud enough to wake the DC up' was bad enough that the police thought they needed to come to see if you were ok, and to notify Children's Services. If you work so closely with safeguarding agencies, you would know that you sound as if you are minimising the gravity of your 'minor argument'.