Calling the police

[Greenbabybottoms]

I call the non emergency number for our local police, I actually have it programmed on my cell phone for this very reason. Sometimes I call and the operator tells me that they are very busy and is doubtful that they will have an extra officer to send out and sometimes I call and the operator is very alarmed and sends officers right out. I guess it just depends on how busy they are. They do always take the cars make/model, color and the area they are in. A month or two ago I was sitting in the parking lot of the craft store and I saw a group of 4 maybe late teens coming out of the toy store with a tiny baby (maybe 3 months), they got into a 4 door sedan with the boy holding the baby and getting into the driver seat, he started the car, handed the baby back to someone in the back seat and they held him on their lap as they drove away, I followed them out and called the police, within about 2 minutes of me calling and telling where we were there were 3 officers who came around the corner and pulled them over. I have no idea what they did or what happened but they obviously took it seriously.

[Kätzchen]

I have called the police for infants being held in automobiles with NO restraints multiple times
I'm not sure what happens when the police come, but I would have an awful feeling in my stomach if I did absolutely nothing.

[MamaRachel]

I have the non emergency number programmed into my phone. I used it a few months ago to report two kids riding unrestrained in the back seat (one sitting backwards and one sideways- it was really obvious they weren't even using their seat belts much less car seats!
I gave make/model/plate # and info on the direction they were traveling. They did seem to take it seriously.

I tend to think it's a good idea to have the non emergency # programmed in regardless of car seat stuff- I've used it to report debris in the roadway, reckless drivers, and other hazards that aren't yet emergencies.

[coquelicot]

This makes me wonder if I should blow the whistle on my neighbors, who I've seen on a regular basis drive around with their 3-year-old boy sitting in the front passenger seat. I don't know if he is at least wearing a seat belt. They've done this for months, I know they did when he was 2. And I know exactly how old he is because he's just 3 weeks younger than DD. I'm hoping they're just taking him to his grandparents' house since they live maybe a half-mile away in our neighborhood, but still...

Don't know why I'm surprised. These same people let the kid ride on a motorcycle with his dad around the neighborhood. No helmet, nothing. And he's been known to be outside without any supervision. Makes me wonder if they're just asking for their son to get hurt at their hands!

[Dory]

Originally Posted by coquelicot This makes me wonder if I should blow the whistle on my neighbors, who I've seen on a regular basis drive around with their 3-year-old boy sitting in the front passenger seat. I don't know if he is at least wearing a seat belt. They've done this for months, I know they did when he was 2. And I know exactly how old he is because he's just 3 weeks younger than DD. I'm hoping they're just taking him to his grandparents' house since they live maybe a half-mile away in our neighborhood, but still... Don't know why I'm surprised. These same people let the kid ride on a motorcycle with his dad around the neighborhood. No helmet, nothing. And he's been known to be outside without any supervision. Makes me wonder if they're just asking for their son to get hurt at their hands!

Mine drive with the two year old, on a 4 wheeler, on a busy 2 lane state highway, up a hill, in the WRONG lane. So why? So the poor person they scar emotionally for life can see the kid's face before they hit them?
They're only going a short distance to a crossing road to step great grandmother's house, so there's no way the sheriff would catch them if I did call.

[coquelicot]

Originally Posted by Thing1 & Thing2 They're only going a short distance to a crossing road to step great grandmother's house, so there's no way the sheriff would catch them if I did call.

Yeah, that's my issue, too. Knowing the cops around here, they'd probably tell me they have to catch them in the act. A half-mile drive in the neighborhood (assuming that's where they're going) isn't going to get them busted unless a sheriff's deputy just happens to be out on a call back here and notices them doing this. If driving past, a deputy in a patrol car isn't going to think to look closely at the front passenger side of an SUV.

[SpartyGuard]

Originally Posted by coquelicot Yeah, that's my issue, too. Knowing the cops around here, they'd probably tell me they have to catch them in the act. A half-mile drive in the neighborhood (assuming that's where they're going) isn't going to get them busted unless a sheriff's deputy just happens to be out on a call back here and notices them doing this. If driving past, a deputy in a patrol car isn't going to think to look closely at the front passenger side of an SUV.

It might be worth a shot. I'd gotten desperate for someone to help me with a mom at my DD's old daycare that FF'd her infant (in her infant seat) and had her 3 year old in the front seat. I emailed a police officer that I noticed was a CPST. He ended up being in the wrong jurisdiction. Even though he couldn't do much in terms of having a patrol car catch her, he did offer to go to her house if I could find out where she lived.

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Well, I know for a fact that the ones here in Star Valley continue to keep an eye out for offenders. I got stopped by a cop on his lunch break at the convenience store because some lady I saw in a parking lot a week earlier thought it was illegal to rearface older kids and only told the dispatcher that I was "blantantly misusing" my car seat. I even started a thread about it

Pulled Over (hahaha!)

So here's hoping that perhaps there are other law enforcement out there that will keep an eye out for more than 1 day.

[ahenson]

I have called the police here in town before. This family had 7 people crammed in a 5-person vehicle. What looked to be the grandmother was holding an infant who looked maybe 8-10 months old in her lap. And they were speeding! Granted, the speed limit was 20 and they were going closer to 30 (not like 70 in a 60 if that's how it sounded). I didn't have the police department's number, but I was near the station. I noted the make, model, and license number of the car and where it parked (at the downtown pharmacy) and flagged an officer who was parked near the station. When I circled around, he was stopping at the pharmacy. Hopefully, he caught them in time before they left!