Calling the police to check on a crying baby

[summermumma2021]

Just had to call the police to check on a new neighbours baby. What would
you have done in this situation?
New neighbours live down our road around 100m away from us and could hear loud very distressed crying for over half an hour.

It sounded like a newborn or young baby crying and so I assumed they’d settle or some attempt to comfort them would be made but the crying stayed at the same level for ther period time. I could also hear raised voices and car doors slamming and I asked my husband if he’d heard it too (he was downstairs) and he said yeah he was worried as well.

Anyway in hoping it was nothing and the little one is fine but it just didn’t sit right and it sounded like no attempt to comfort them was being made at all.

i have no idea who the new neighbours are as it’s quite far from our bit of the road but for it to be that loud from this distance didn’t seem right. I have also had three colicky babies so I do know babies can cry for periods of time but as I said it sounded like no attempt to help them was being made.

Anyway police treating it as a priority case and checking things out. Just wanted to share really as worried.

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

My neighbours have a baby who seems to be struggling in the heat and crying a lot but I hear the parents soothing the baby and singing to him so I think that is the difference.

After the appalling cases of Preston and Isabelle recently, I don’t know why people are questioning the OP. Better to make an innocent mistake than another child neglected or worse.

What an overreaction.

It’s boiling hot so the baby will be pissed off like the rest of us. The more it cries the hotter it gets, so the more pissed off it gets, and round it goes. You had no idea it wasn’t being consoled by an equally hot parent, who was making the baby hotter. The whole family probably haven’t slept for a week so everyone is bound to be at the end of their tether, so the parents raised their voices at each other. It’s not a big deal and it sounds like one of them took it out on the car. I feel really sorry for them.

Last night my very, placid laid back DGS (2.5) was in a foul mood. He screamed blue murder when he was told he was going for a shower and he’s never been like that before. He’s fed up of being too hot, you see, like the rest of us.

Well done op. Don't know why some people are calling you nosy. This is when children and women die because people don't want to get involved.
It was the right thing to do.

You wouldn’t hear someone singing and soothing from 100m away.

We’ve got 2 newborns over the road, we hear the crying, we don’t hear anything else.

Colicky babies can cry for hours. But at the same time, with the recent cases of abused and killed babies neighbours said they heard distressed crying but didn’t report it. I would always report it just in case after reading about those cases

How do you know that was the case? You don't. The police would rather check and find nothing wrong than ignore it and the worst happen.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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 😕

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

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

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.

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?

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.

"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."

@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

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

Thank you.