MAYFLOWER, Ark. — There's an old rivalry between police and fire departments, but in Mayflower, that's being set aside for anyone passing through town.
It's a chance for them to get ahead of their everyday operations.
"Mainly quick response," Mayflower Fire Chief Ashton Tolliver said. "Soon as the call comes in, we're en route."
Rather than responding, they want to be ready.
"We just need to be ready for it in case it does happen," Tolliver said. "It's better to be proactive."
Tolliver said staying ready involves a Safe Haven Baby Box, a device installed on a building so those unable to care for an infant have a safe and discreet way to surrender their child.
"It'll give us a safe, reliable option for mothers in crisis who need to surrender," Tolliver said.
According to the Safe Haven Baby Box website, adding a baby box in Mayflower would bring Arkansas to 18 total boxes.
And the Mayflower Police Department is getting help from their old rivals across the street.
"We give each other a hard time," Mayflower Police Chief Douglas Hunter said. "At the end of the day, we work together to achieve the end goal, and that's to get the job done."
Hunter said they saw other cities installing them in fire stations. After a conversation with the fire department, they decided to push for one themselves.
"The chief and I, and several others, were talking about [it]," Hunter said. "We saw the number of babies being surrendered around the country... Then we started seeing them surrendered in Arkansas."
The box costs about $11,000, something they're fundraising to get. Hunter said it doesn't matter if no one uses the box. They want the option available.
"Any child that may be put into this situation," Hunter said. "We want them to be safe."
Two departments readying a response before an emergency ever happens.
"It'll help greatly," Tolliver said. "If any mother is traveling or who lives in our community, the option will be here."
Less than two months ago, a mother traveled from out of state to make a drop-off at Benton's Fire Station 3 box because her state didn't offer anonymous and safe surrender options.
"I am so thankful this parent chose a safe option for their child," CEO and Founder of Safe Haven Baby Box Monica Kelsey said. "We may never know why they used this baby box, but we do know how much they loved their baby."
With over 100 Safe Haven Baby Boxes located nationwide, the organization aims to take face-to-face interaction from the surrender and protect the parents' identity. The Safe Haven Baby Box said its primary goal is to raise awareness of the safe-haven law, which allows parents to relinquish an infant without fear of arrest or prosecution.
The law is designed to protect babies, and infants surrendered must not have been abused or neglected.