SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Police say they've been called out several times to southwest Springfield for a noise that sounds like a woman screaming in distress.

Neighbors say the noise is actually coming from the Timken Belts facility on West Battlefield Road.

Springfield police tell me every time they receive a call concerning the noise, they have to treat it as a serious situation just in case someone is actually in trouble.

“Even though we may believe that's what it is, we're still going to respond and check the area," said Lieutenant Steve Schwind with Springfield Police. "We can't just dismiss somebody calling in, you know, a possible assault or somebody needing assistance based on speaking out there previously."

Lt. Schwind says although the sound is quite frightening to some, it does not violate any city noise ordinances. 

"We don't have any control over, you know, the sound it makes when it releases steam,” said Schwind.

April Ford is the 911 director for Springfield-Greene County 911 and she says they've gotten several 911 calls about the noise since last Saturday.

"We treat every call as if it's exactly what the caller is telling us as if it could be the worst-case scenario," said Ford. "And the reason we do that is to make sure that we get all of the questions answered that we might possibly get answered from the caller."

She says even though the situation may turn out to be nothing, they still coordinate with police because they have to err on the side of caution.

"We take the information from the caller and we try and get as much detail as possible, especially if it's a call like that where they don't know where it's coming from," Ford said. "They just hear screams. We try to get as much information about where they are, where they're currently out, where they're hearing it from, what direction they're hearing it from."

Ford says she wants people to keep calling 911 if they think someone may be in danger.

"I would never want anybody to overlook those calls or to think that those calls are not serious, you just never know,” said Schwind.

News Source : https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/scary-noise-from-sw-springfield-business-prompts-911-calls/