SPOKANE -- Spokane Police have received calls this summer from people who have spotted children left alone inside of hot cars.
Some of the calls ended up being false alarms, but with temperatures in the upper 90’s officers are concerned the danger may rise in the coming days.
Temperatures inside a car spike when it’s hot out.
A 4-month-old girl in Indiana died Saturday after being left in a car. The baby’s teenage father was arrested on preliminary charges of neglect of a dependent, resulting in death.
Spokane Police want parents and neighbors to take extra precaution in this heat to prevent similar tragedies.
They understand the temptation to run into a store and leave your kids alone in the car with the air conditioning running, but officers warn that is a misdemeanor offense.
"You don't know how long the lines are, you might find something else, and that just adds to the possible danger that they might be in," said Spokane Police Officer John Gately.
While the cases so far this year have been false alarms, police ask anyone who sees a child left alone inside a hot car to call 911.
“Just call us. We would much rather deal with it early than get there too late,” Gately said.
