By Allan Jamail
April 23, 2024 ~ The citizens of Jacinto City have some very good, well-trained police officers looking out for their safety. Patrolman Arthur Luevanos and Det. R. Barker II are a couple of them. Recently they responded to a citizen’s distress call about a child being accidentally locked into a car.
Officer Luevanos and Det. R. Barker II arrived on the scene, immediately assessed the situation, and then they began putting to use their training of the special tools they had, which were needed to unlock the car and extract the child.
When I learned of the emergency, and after I arrived at the scene, I was able to watch Officer Luevanos at work unlocking the car. Upon my observation, after the toddler’s rescue, the child’s face appeared flush but not to be in a serious and/or life-threatening condition.
As the former Jacinto City Police Chief, I can attest that in small police departments, officers including the Chief have to be well-trained to be able to take care of every emergency they might be confronted with. In my department, officers and myself were trained to work homicide scenes from start to finish, do undercover surveillance work on illegal narcotic cases against those trafficking in illegal drugs in the city, take crime scene fingerprints and photos in order to get court convictions of the suspects, and more. Our two detectives solved most all burglaries, robberies and homicides occurring in the city.
The department had a special trained SWAT Team to handle hostage situations, active shooters, terrorist threats and bomb threats. We had a special communications van that could be used to setup a Command Post on emergency scenes so as to organize the officers responding to an active shooter or hostage situation.
The Texas laws in Penal Code Section 22.10 ~ Leaving a Child in a Vehicle states: a person commits an offense if they intentionally or knowingly leaves a child in a motor vehicle for longer than five minutes, knowing that the child is; younger than seven years of age; and is not attended by an individual in the vehicle who is 14 years of age or older.
The Texas Leaving a Child in a Vehicle law gives police the right to arrest you if they believe you left a child younger than seven years old alone in a vehicle. The child does not have to be harmed or put in any type of danger. If the child is harmed (or placed in serious danger of harm), then you could be charged with Injury to a Child or Abandoning or Endangering a Child.
The law was updated in 2023 to expand the law’s applicability to also covering elderly and disabled people, effective September 1, 2023. Now, the crime includes both abandoning a child, disabled person or elderly person and exposing a child, disabled person or elderly person to imminent danger.
4 TIPS TO PREVENT LOCKING YOUR CHILDREN IN THE CAR
Keeping a close eye on the children can be challenging in the modern world full of distractions and commitments. However, locking the children in the car can be life-threatening and should never be done. If a parent accidentally locks themselves out of their vehicle with an child inside, they should call 911. To prevent accidental lockouts, keep these four tips in mind.
KEEP THE CAR AND KEYS SECURED: Children are naturally curious and will mimic what adults do. They will often try to imitate the parents’ driving behavior. If the car has emergency lockouts and you are away doing essential chores, this can become dangerous quickly. Having the car locked and keys safely tucked away out of a child’s reach will make it impossible for them to sneak into the vehicle unattended.
MAKE A SPARE KEY: Putting a spare set of car keys in the house can be a lifesaver during accidental lockout sand prevent stress and panic. Putting a spare key fob on a necklace or in your pockets or purse is a good idea. When carrying spare keys with you, never keep them on the same key ring as other keys. Additionally, consider using a keychain that is hard to misplace or find in a pinch.
TAKE THE CHILDREN WITH YOU: It may seem obvious, but the best way to prevent leaving a child in the car is to ensure that the children are nearby at all times. Taking that extra second to ensure no one is left behind in the back seat can mean a world of difference. By making it a habit to take the children with them at all times, parents can reduce the risk of forgetting them in the car while on the road. Some parents put an essential item like their wallet next to the child’s safety seat as a reminder to take the kids with them.
Additionally, minimize small impulsive outings like sudden trips to the store. Leaving the kids in the car for a short supermarket dash can lead to potentially devastating outcomes. In the summer, vehicles can get suffocatingly hot when exposed to the sun.
INSPECT THE CAR: When leaving the car, inspect it thoroughly to ensure nothing and no one is left behind. Modern cars usually have computerized locking systems. Sudden glitches and malfunctions can cause them to lock and unlock uncontrollably.