“As a uniform team inspector, one of my sergeants and a young officer (near the end of her probation) went to a report of a domestic disturbance called in by the neighbours.
When my officers turned up, the address contained a male and female with a young baby, no more than a couple of months old. The woman was crying, stating that her partner had been talking drugs and wouldn’t give her the baby back. As my sergeant went to speak to him the male locked himself in the bedroom and refused to come out. He had the baby with him.
I was called due to the situation turning in to a critical incident with a risk of harm to the baby. Whilst travelling to the incident the sergeant called me to say the baby was screaming and sounding distressed, he wanted permission to force the door.
As they forced the door, they saw the man stabbing the baby multiple times in the chest.
He was overpowered, the baby was put in a police car and rushed to a hospital which was thankfully less than a mile away. This was now of course a critical incident.
Miraculously the baby survived.
Dealing with this critical incident, the aftermath, suspect and mother of the baby meant that initially I forgot about my officer’s welfare. The young officer went from being an incredibly capable, positive, bubbly person to being withdrawn and retired.
The impact on the rest of my team was also profound. We worked in a busy area, with daily shootings and critical incidents, but this one had a huge effect on everyone.
During the investigation it became apparent that the mother had been a victim of domestic abuse herself over many years but never felt able or in a place to seek help.”
