Resident urges Safe Haven baby box; police chief cites safety, liability concerns

A resident identified in the meeting as Miss Smith told the El Campo City Council she had contacted Safe Haven Baby Box Company and believed the city qualified to host a baby box, and asked the council to authorize legal and contractual review so volunteers could pursue placement.

"I called Safe Haven Baby Box Company in Indiana last week to verify that we are qualified in ElCampo and they said we were," Miss Smith said, adding that the vendor told her the box is heated and cooled, has three alarm systems and leaves a packet of information for a newborn.

Police Chief (identified in the meeting by title) responded that he could not ask dispatchers to bear responsibility for alarms and initial responses at a baby box. "I cannot put that on my dispatchers because they're the ones who would have to deal with the repercussions of that," the chief said, citing past technology outages and the risk of trauma to staff if a system failed.

Miss Smith said she was a volunteer and asked the council to allow the city attorney to contact the vendor to review liability and contract terms and to nominate or otherwise authorize her to continue pursuing the project. Council members praised Miss Smith's intentions and acknowledged differing views: one council member said he accepted responsibility for the city not moving forward while others emphasized the need to protect city staff and ensure proper vetting.

The council did not take formal action on the request at the meeting. The discussion concluded with council members indicating they had heard the public comment and would follow usual staff procedures for handling third-party proposals and any required legal review.