Kids left in hot car, VPD issues weather warning
Posted July 7, 2017 12:15 pm.
Last Updated July 7, 2017 12:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As the mercury across Metro Vancouver and much of the province continues to soar, it’s leading to some questionable behaviour by some people.
A video that surfaced to social media this week shows an officer with the Vancouver Police Department yelling at a woman who had apparently left her two young children in a hot car while she went grocery shopping.
Investigators say the incident happened on Monday afternoon in the parking lot of a grocery store on Grandview Highway in East Vancouver. They say they received numerous 911 calls about the children who were described as “in distress” and that the car alarm was also going off.
“It turned out there was a six-year-old girl and a three-and-a-half year-old boy inside that vehicle. We looked at the tapes from the grocery store and the mother had been in the store for 20 minutes leaving the kids alone in the vehicle in extreme heat,” says Chief Constable Adam Palmer.
The VPD, the fire department and BC Ambulance.
Palmer is standing by his sergeant, who can be seen on the video explaining to the woman the dangers of the situation.
“We’ve had a couple of incidents this week. We had the one with the dog that was left in the car. When we’re talking about humans it’s even more serious. I’ve known that officer for many years, he’s a highly respected member of the police department. Hard-working and a dedicated officer. I know that he has children of his own. You have to remember police officers are just people, we’re all human beings and everybody may react slightly different to every set of circumstances and he was trying to convey to that women the seriousness of what she had to done with her children.”
The file has been turned over to the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
The police are using this latest case as another reminder not to leave children or pets in the car. “I think all of us know the interior of a car heats up dramatically higher than what the outside temperature is and leaving any sort of human or animal in a car for that long is very, very serious business.”
If you see a pet or children in a hot car you’re encouraged to call 911 immediately.
As of yet, no charges have been recommended against the woman.
