'Your children could have died': Officer yells at mom for leaving kids in hot car

Cop scolds woman over kids in hot car Vancouver police chief is defending the officer who was recorded yelling at a woman who allegedly left her two young children in a hot car.

A mother who left her kids in an SUV in "extreme heat" while she went grocery shopping will not face charges, but the children's ministry has been contacted.

Vancouver Police Department Chief Adam Palmer spoke to reporters Friday in the wake of a viral video shot in a grocery store parking lot in East Vancouver that shows an upset VPD sergeant dealing with the driver.

The visibly shaken officer yells at the parent, seemingly to convey the gravity of the situation.

"You don't seem to understand the danger you put your children in," he says to the woman. "The windows were up – it's hot out. Your children could have died."

Witness video shows all the windows on the SUV were closed before the woman returned to her car, but the driver says the sunroof was left open.

Police received multiple 911 calls from citizens concerned about two children in distress left in a hot car Monday afternoon, and arrived to find the car alarm going off.

It was a full-on response from emergency responders: Police, ambulance and fire crews all attended the scene.

One woman who was on the phone with first responders is seen standing at the back of the SUV to prevent the driver from leaving until officers arrived. A cement pillar blocked the driver from pulling forward out of the parking spot.

She tells the 911 operator: "I have dogs and wouldn't do that to my dogs."

The children, a six-year-old girl and three-and-a-half-year-old boy, were left unattended in the vehicle for 20 minutes while their mother was in the store, Palmer said.

The pair were dehydrated and very hot and treated on scene by ambulance but not taken to the hospital.  Police contacted the Ministry of Children and Family Development, but the agency has not publicly commented on the case.

Palmer said he has known the officer in the video for many years, and the longtime member is highly respected within the force.

The chief defended the officer, who is a father himself.

"You have to remember that police officers are just people," he said.

"We're all just human beings. And he was trying to convey to that woman the seriousness of what she'd done to her children."

His comments come just hours after Edmonton Police announced a young mother was charged after her baby had to be rescued from a hot car.

Police managed to get the eight-month-old girl out of the vehicle and she was sent to hospital for treatment.

It was believed the infant was in the car for about 45 minutes on Thursday night. Her 22-year-old mother is charged with causing a child to be in need of intervention.

According to the Canada Safety Council, the inside of a previously air-conditioned vehicle can reach 50 C within 20 minutes sitting in the sun -- well above the temperature when heatstroke kicks in.

There are no national statistics available for Canada but in the U.S. an average of 37 children die in hot cars every year -- most under the age of three.

On Tuesday, Vancouver police tweeted a photo of a dog it had to break into a car to rescue at Queen Elizabeth Park.

The dog was foaming at the mouth, and the owner came back to the vehicle and disagreed that it was too hot.

The officer on scene actually asked the owner to sit inside the hot car to test out the temperature. Even with the broken window, police say he only lasted three minutes before he had to get out.

The driver was handed a warning and the BC SPCA was notified.

"Our message is don't leave your pets or your kids in your vehicle when the weather is so hot," said Const. Anne-Marie Clark.

"When it's hot like this, the best place for your pets is to leave them at home so they can be safe and cool. And children should go without saying, please take your children with you. Don't leave them in the car. It's too hot for everyone, pets or people."