Police Bouncy: Dared to Work gets... wait? What are we talking about?

[dutch508]

daredtowork (1,100 posts) http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025979931

My Experience With a Police "Welfare Check"
Last edited Thu Dec 18, 2014, 11:57 PM - Edit history (1)

I wrote such a long comment on a post about a police "welfare check" gone tragically wrong, that I thought I'd turn it into a post. It's interesting this came up now, because I was actually trying to get at the subject of police replacing traditional public infrastructure during my 2 minutes at the emergency Berkeley City Council Meeting dealing with the Berkeley #BlackLivesMatter Protests and increasingly fraught relations between the community and the police. My comment must have not come across very well because I was skipped in both the tweeting and the news coverage. I guess I'm not cut out to be a public speaker, hehe. 

Anyway, if I had somewhat longer than 2 minutes to make my point, here is the point I wanted to make:

With the collapse of the welfare system and many public services, people at the lower end of the social scale are increasingly exposed to negative/stressful encounters with the police. This isn't just in regard to criminal activity - this relates to evictions, drug/alcohol escapism, suicide interventions, domestic disputes that weren't actually violence, noise/nuisance complaints, etc. As your life becomes more desperate, and there is nothing you can do about it (for lack of programs and advocacy options), the more the police are knocking on your door. They have become ad hoc social control.

And then there is the "welfare check", which is more or less a blank check for police to walk into your house in the name of privacy from your neighbors.

My consciousness was raised about this recently, because I have experienced it personally, and I am outraged to no end about it.

If you check some of my sig and my other posts, you will see that I have been through a horror story with Social Services. The petition in my sig doesn't even include the part about me losing Medi-Cal and the bureaucratic hell-wave that entailed. Anyway, I had to deal with a lot of Social Services hearings and paperwork - the whole thing was very nerve-wracking and time-consuming, and it took over my life at a time when I had just been on the verge of getting on with my life. When I finally got Medi-Cal back, the first thing that happened was the HMO that manages my Medi-Cal services rejected a procedure I had been working on getting for many months. I found out appealing involved *yet another* Social Services hearing.

I am a mild-mannered person who in the past let important things slip through the cracks at my medical clinic: at one point I lost my eyesight mainly because I wasn't speaking loudly enough about getting missing information into my medical record and getting treatment I knew I needed. As I viewed this situation: I was not going to go through one more Social Services hearing - I was going to demand my medical clinic find another way (either the doctor rewrite the referral, or they find another way to work with the HMO). I had to speak strongly because my medical clinic had a history of not hearing me, and in this situation there was a clock running on the procedure (the imaging for it was already a year old). Unfortunately for me, I put it in writing. I said up at the top why I felt I had to speak strongly. Then I said they had to find me another way. And then I said I would hold a sign and march out in front of city hall in traffic if they didn't.

Did this get me my procedure? Noooooooo. Actually helping to fix my medical problems might be giving into my spoiled little tantrum or some other psychological behaviorial crap. Instead they called the police to do a "welfare check".

This in itself is a very nerve-wracking encounter, even if you know you've done nothing wrong and aren't going to get arrested. The police are potent symbols of authority. You also have to figure that you're in their database and "on the grid" once they have to speak to you.

I had to let the police into my room, without any advance warning they were coming. My room was a mess.

I had to explain to all my curious neighbors why the police had come knocking at the door. I'm really glad my housemate wasn't around at the time.

I had been going to that medical clinic regularly for over 2 years. Not just for medical appointments: I went there almost weekly for acupuncture, women's health groups, nutritionist advice, social work, all the extra stuff they had. Will all the bureaucracy in my life, I did not need all those extra appointments. I had mobility problems - I was often struggling just to get there, and sometimes I used bus money even though I couldn't afford it. I'm an introvert: I'd much prefer to keep to myself, but I made that effort to keep going to that medical clinic. The ONLY reason I kept pushing myself to do it was when push came to shove, I wanted the people there to know my face, recognize me as a human being, and make a decision based on their knowledge of me as a person.

When that important moment came, they forgot I was a human being, and they fell back on their procedures. They treated me as an "it" that needed a "welfare check".

At least half a dozen people in that clinic should have known me well enough to understand what I had been through with Social Services, how I communicate, and what it would do to me if they called the police on me.

It's dispiriting to think how much time I wasted trying to develop some sort of human relationship with people there.

Anyway, this "welfare check" not only added a negative encounter with the police - it broke my relationship with my medical clinic as well. Think about that: people on the low end of the social scale may not have a lot of community ties. Do we need the police breaking the few they have left?

While the Berkeley PD does not have a bad reputation, there is some concern that a transgender woman named Kayla Moore died during a "welfare check" the police did on her last year.

Perhaps the police shouldn't be handling these "welfare checks". Perhaps they are a poor replacement for community outreach to isolated people with various needs.

***********

Here is the post where I originally made this comment:
Innocent (white) Man Raided, Tased, Beaten, & Shot By a Corrupt SWAT Team (who Lied to Get the Raid)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025978850

 
What the **** did I just read???

daredtowork (1,100 posts)
17. Wow, I've been trying to bring this up in Berkeley/Oakland!!!!

With the collapse of the welfare system and many public services, people at the lower end of the social scale are increasingly exposed to negative/stressful encounters with the police. This isn't just in regard to criminal activity - this relates to evictions, drug/alcohol escapism, suicide interventions, domestic disputes that weren't actually violence, noise/nuisance complaints, etc. As your life becomes more desperate, and there is nothing you can do about it (for lack of programs and advocacy options), the more the police are knocking on your door. They have become ad hoc social control.

And then there is the "welfare check", which is more or less a blank check for police to walk into your house in the name of privacy from your neighbors.

My consciousness was raised about this recently, because I have experienced it personally, and I am outraged to no end about it.

If you check some of my sig and my other posts, you will see that I have been through a horror story with Social Services. The petition in my sig doesn't even include the part about me losing Medi-Cal and the bureaucratic hell-wave that entailed. Anyway, I had to deal with a lot of Social Services hearings and paperwork - the whole thing was very nerve-wracking and time-consuming, and it took over my life at a time when I had just been on the verge of getting on with my life. When I finally got Medi-Cal back, the first thing that happened was the HMO that manages my Medi-Cal services rejected a procedure I had been working on getting for many months. I found out appealing involved *yet another* Social Services hearing.

I am a mild-mannered person who in the past let important things slip through the cracks at my medical clinic: at one point I lost my eyesight mainly because I wasn't speaking loudly enough about getting missing information into my medical record and getting treatment I knew I needed. As I viewed this situation: I was not going to go through one more Social Services hearing - I was going to demand my medical clinic find another way (either the doctor rewrite the referral, or they find another way to work with the HMO). I had to speak strongly because my medical clinic had a history of not hearing me, and in this situation there was a clock running on the procedure (the imaging for it was already a year old). Unfortunately for me, I put it in writing. I said up at the top why I felt I had to speak strongly. Then I said they had to find me another way. And then I said I would hold a sign and march out in front of city hall in traffic if they didn't.

Did this get me my procedure? Noooooooo. Actually helping to fix my medical problems might be giving into my spoiled little tantrum or some other psychological behaviorial crap. Instead they called the police to do a "welfare check".

This in itself is a very nerve-wracking encounter, even if you know you've done nothing wrong and aren't going to get arrested. The police are potent symbols of authority. You also have to figure that you're in their database and "on the grid" once they have to speak to you.

I had to let the police into my room, without any advance warning they were coming. My room was a mess.

I had to explain to all my curious neighbors why the police had come knocking at the door. I'm really glad my housemate wasn't around at the time.

I had been going to that medical clinic regularly for over 2 years. Not just for medical appointments: I went there almost weekly for acupuncture, women's health groups, nutritionist advice, social work, all the extra stuff they had. Will all the bureaucracy in my life, I did not need all those extra appointments. I had mobility problems - I was often struggling just to get there, and sometimes I used bus money even though I couldn't afford it. I'm an introvert: I'd much prefer to keep to myself, but I made that effort to keep going to that medical clinic. The ONLY reason I kept pushing myself to do it was when push came to shove, I wanted the people there to know my face, recognize me as a human being, and make a decision based on their knowledge of me as a person.

When that important moment came, they forgot I was a human being, and they fell back on their procedures. They treated me as an "it" that needed a "welfare check".

At least half a dozen people in that clinic should have known me well enough to understand what I had been through with Social Services, how I communicate, and what it would do to me if they called the police on me.

It's dispiriting to think how much time I wasted trying to develop some sort of human relationship with people there.

Anyway, this "welfare check" not only added a negative encounter with the police - it broke my relationship with my medical clinic as well. Think about that: people on the low end of the social scale may not have a lot of community ties. Do we need the police breaking the few they have left?

While the Berkeley PD does not have a bad reputation, there is some concern that a transgender woman named Kayla Moore died during a "welfare check" the police did on her last year.

Perhaps the police shouldn't be handling these "welfare checks". Perhaps they are a poor replacement for community outreach to isolated people with various needs.

(Because this comment became so involved, I turned it into a post here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025979931 )

Yeah.... DUmpmonkey reposted it's post into it's own OP... still got no clue what the **** it is talking about.

daredtowork (1,100 posts)
2. Please don't feel bad for me

I have to fall down on my knees and thank whatever deity is looking after me that I'm not homeless yet, because really I should be. A number of ridiculously lucky factors protected me from homelessness, in a situation where anybody else would be.

On top of that, my eyesight didn't go until the moment the ACA kicked in, and I could get treatment. I've been on welfare. I've been through the process of applying for disability. But that's not going to be my future because I finally did get the medical care I needed.

If you put that all together, it seems that perhaps there are some forces in the universe that wanted to put me through these particular experiences precisely because I would be able to describe them - perhaps "out" the situation for other people.

Poor blind hopeless DUmpmonkey posting book length posts to DU. Such courage. Such bravery...

Dont call me Shirley (3,117 posts)
8. Still, we should not be made to live this way. Worrying every moment if we are going to be

homeless because of sickness or not be treated for medical conditions because we don't have insurance. I've been to both places and almost died. It is disgusting the way of our society. We are not "useless eaters" as the .01% refer to us. We are all born onto this earth and we all deserve to share in the resources of this earth. To deny another access to resources is a theft from that being.

These are human rights:

1. Clean air
2. Clean water
3. Clean food
4. Clothing
5. Shelter
6. Treatment when sick or injured
7. Community of care
8. Communication
9. Transportation
10. Job with dignity

 

daredtowork (1,100 posts)
4. I'm not going to flame you

I appreciate the police were doing their jobs.

My point is the police shouldn't have been the ones to dothat job.

If the people at my medical clinic were so "concerned" about me, they could have called me to check that way first. They could have emailed. They could have even dropped by.

That's what I meant when I said I had invested (re: wasted) a lot of time in building personal relationships with these people. Not only should they have been able to understand my situation (which I talked about in a women's group weekly and to a social worker byweekly), they had previously felt free to call me, and even email me, for their stuff. I suppose "casual hanging out" is okay when done on their terms, but full professionalism has to kick in once I become a "welfare check"! That's the problem. There was the kind of relationship there where they could have just followed up with me instead of calling the police on me.

Somebody else mentioned that the law requires health professionals to call the police if I could be a danger to my self or others, blah, blah, blah...

If this is the case, why were the police showing up to do their "welfare check" three days after I had last had any contact with my medical clinic? By the "danger" theory I would have slashed my wrists or taken various and sundry hostages three days ago!

No, I was just puttering around my home, not even fully dressed, when the police knocked on my door. They knock very loud, by the way

.

Poor Poor DUmpmonkey... it's alla bout me! Why don't they do this FOR ME!!!

daredtowork (1,100 posts)
18. Why a cop?

I think it's great to follow up on a patient whose health is poor. But why is a cop doing this? He is not a trained medical professional. He is not trained in psychological or peer counseling. All he is trained in is exhibiting an authoritative presence for social control, putting suspected criminals under arrest, and dealing with crime scenes.

Society is inserting cops where cops shouldn't be because of the lack of local community services.

In small towns, churches used to provide this sort of social glue. I don't think it's appropriate that churches continue to play this role in a secular society because it places pressure on people to adhere to particular faiths just because they are poor and in need. But secular society needs to STEP UP and start putting together some community institutions to take over those old pastoral functions. COPS ARE NO SUBSTITUTE.

Cops, however well-meaning they might be, rip apart communities rather than build them up.

 

Texasgal (14,413 posts)
19. As an RN I have the same issue with blood draws for DWI cases. The police have NO business drawing blood. It's an issue that has become a big deal even in my libby town of Austin, TX.

Cops do not know how to properly test blood. 

We don't draw blood. We take the suspect to the ER and you ****ers do it. We don't have a blood lab in the back of the patrol car to test the blood dumb ass. You do it. 

  Texasgal (14,413 posts)
21. Exactly. Very concerned about the blood draws. They use Breathalyzers but on "no refusal weekends" they use blood draws. Very concerned about that.

In this state you refuse to give a sample I simply charge you with Refusal of the B.A.T. Automatic arrest and the punishment is exactly that of a DUI. See my previous comment about drawing blood.

[HawkHogan]

The Dummies are starring to get long-winded. 

[Big Dog]

That was a confusing mess.

The best I could get from it is that the DUmmy is some kind of fat shut-in hoarder mental case; the police came to his/her house on a welfare check, probably called in by a neighbor concerned about the smell; and that kept the DUmmy from getting acupuncture at the local free clinic...

...or something.

[MrsSmith]

Texasgal (14,413 posts)
19. As an RN I have the same issue with blood draws for DWI cases. The police have NO business drawing blood. It's an issue that has become a big deal even in my libby town of Austin, TX.

A standard phlebotomy course is all of 3 days.  There is absolutely no reason why a police officer can't also be a phlebotomist.  But of course, an RN wouldn't know that.   

[Big Dog]

**** you, DUmbass. Leave it to one of Skins' misbegotten mutant ****s to bitch about cops doing something good.

As Dutch will attest, "check the welfare" calls are an important public service by law enforcement. Elderly and disabled people often have less social contact than others, and a concerned neighbor or family member calling in a request to check the welfare may be the only person who noticed that person has not been seen for days.

I made more "check the welfare" calls out than I could count, including calls in the winter to check on elderly people who lived alone in farmhouses. It was common after a snowstorm, when power and phone service would be out. Those citizens were grateful that somebody cared enough to ask that they be checked on. Some of the best coffee and pie I ever had was on "check the welfare" calls.

Do you know what else cops find on welfare checks, DUmmy? Suicides. People who died for medical reasons, or overdoses, or just plain "died in their sleep"; and people who would be dead in a day or two if that lawman had not come out to "check the welfare".

And here's another big "**** YOU" to any lurking DUmmies: During those "check the welfare" calls I shoveled a lot of other people's snow, took food and water to a lot of people (and dogs), and drove some into town to stay with family.

 

[Carl]

My best Readers Digest version of that idiocy.




I am a whining,deadbeat lunatic that smokes dope and creates disruptions in the neighborhood.

I have spent years trying to hop on the disability gravy train and had to settle for Medicaid.
They won`t just give me drugs when I demand them.

I put up a hysterical shrieking fit in a facility,caused damage and ran.
They called the police who told me I had to pay for the damage or charges would be brought.

I am never going back to those bastards again.

Pity me.


 

[SVPete]

With the collapse of the welfare system and many public services, people at the lower end of the social scale are increasingly exposed to negative/stressful encounters with the police. This isn't just in regard to criminal activity - this relates to evictions, drug/alcohol escapism, suicide interventions, domestic disputes that weren't actually violence, noise/nuisance complaints, etc. As your life becomes more desperate, and there is nothing you can do about it (for lack of programs and advocacy options), the more the police are knocking on your door. They have become ad hoc social control.

And then there is the "welfare check", which is more or less a blank check for police to walk into your house in the name of privacy from your neighbors.

"(C)ollapse of the welfare system and many public services"? In what drug-fueled FantasyLand?

As for social workers and police checking whether people receiving government goodies aren't scamming the system or using the goodies to break the law, buy luxury goods, or buy intoxicants (illegal or legal), works for this taxpayer!

[DumbAss Tanker]

What the **** did I just read???

^ This.

I can see why the poor bastards at the medical provider called the cops.  Sounds like the DUmmie subjected them to a wild and sputteringly incoherent hissy fit, and they wanted to make sure the poor thing found its way home.

[BlueStateSaint]

^ This.

I can see why the poor bastards at the medical provider called the cops.  Sounds like the DUmmie subjected them to a wild and sputteringly incoherent hissy fit, and they wanted to make sure the poor thing found its way home.

Via the county jail . . .

[Karin]

These idiots post long horror stories, time after time, about being kicked around by these social services bureaucracies.  "I had to spend my last penny on bus fare to stand in line for 6 hours!"  Why in the world would they want to structure their lives around government agencies?  Whatever they get can be snatched away without a moments notice.   Sounds like a freakin nightmare to me.

That was my only takeaway from that mess. 

[tanstaafl]

My best Readers Digest version of that idiocy.




I am a whining,deadbeat lunatic that smokes dope and creates disruptions in the neighborhood.

I have spent years trying to hop on the disability gravy train and had to settle for Medicaid.
They won`t just give me drugs when I demand them.

I put up a hysterical shrieking fit in a facility,caused damage and ran.
They called the police who told me I had to pay for the damage or charges would be brought.

I am never going back to those bastards again.

Pity me.

Plus:

Oh. My Paypal Account is: XXXXX. Send money.

[98ZJUSMC]

daredtowork (1,100 posts)
2. Please don't feel bad for me

Nothing to worry about there, lobotomy boi.  Never crossed my mind, that is, the one I still have.

[98ZJUSMC]

My best Readers Digest version of that idiocy.

I am a whining,deadbeat lunatic that smokes dope and creates disruptions in the neighborhood.

I have spent years trying to hop on the disability gravy train and had to settle for Medicaid.
They won`t just give me drugs when I demand them.

I put up a hysterical shrieking fit in a facility,caused damage and ran.
They called the police who told me I had to pay for the damage or charges would be brought.

I am never going back to those bastards again.

Pity me.

    

[98ZJUSMC]

"(C)ollapse of the welfare system and many public services"? In what drug-fueled FantasyLand?

Collapse of the welfare system =

A). I didn't get my free shit. 

B). They disapproved my government cheese.

C). Ronnie Raygun.

D). All of the Above.

[freedumb2003b]

Dont call me Shirley (3,117 posts)
8. Still, we should not be made to live this way. Worrying every moment if we are going to be

homeless because of sickness or not be treated for medical conditions because we don't have insurance. I've been to both places and almost died. It is disgusting the way of our society. We are not "useless eaters" as the .01% refer to us. We are all born onto this earth and we all deserve to share in the resources of this earth. To deny another access to resources is a theft from that being.

These are human rights:

1. Clean air
2. Clean water
3. Clean food
4. Clothing
5. Shelter
6. Treatment when sick or injured
7. Community of care
8. Communication
9. Transportation
10. Job with dignity

Left out:
11. A unicorn that shits Skittle

[I_B_Perky]

These idiots post long horror stories, time after time, about being kicked around by these social services bureaucracies.  "I had to spend my last penny on bus fare to stand in line for 6 hours!"  Why in the world would they want to structure their lives around government agencies?  Whatever they get can be snatched away without a moments notice.   Sounds like a freakin nightmare to me.

That was my only takeaway from that mess.

The alternative would be for them to get a job and be responsible for themselves. That is like sunlight to a vampire for the dummies.

[Rufus2010]

DUmmie had a bad allergic reaction to bathsalts.

[BattleHymn]

10. Job with dignity

I wonder how the big guy, Omaha Steve would feel about this one?  A used-condom-fisher-outer isn't exactly something a normal person aspires to become.

[obumazombie]

Collapse of the welfare system =

A). I didn't get my free shit. 

B). They disapproved my government cheese.

C). Ronnie Raygun.

D). All of the Above.

What about the joooos ?
Or is that included in Saint Raygun ?

[FlaGator]

Dont call me Shirley (3,117 posts)
8. Still, we should not be made to live this way. Worrying every moment if we are going to be

homeless because of sickness or not be treated for medical conditions because we don't have insurance. I've been to both places and almost died. It is disgusting the way of our society. We are not "useless eaters" as the .01% refer to us. We are all born onto this earth and we all deserve to share in the resources of this earth. To deny another access to resources is a theft from that being.

These are human rights:

1. Clean air
2. Clean water
3. Clean food
4. Clothing
5. Shelter
6. Treatment when sick or injured
7. Community of care
8. Communication
9. Transportation
10. Job with dignity

Who is it that grants these rights? Rights just don't appear out of thin air.

[obumazombie]

Who is it that grants these rights? Rights just don't appear out of thin air.

If it's another human, it's just their opinion, and only backed up with might makes right.

[BattleHymn]

If it's another human, it's just their opinion, and only backed up with might makes right.

I'd like to grant myself the rights to some of obumazombie's stuff.

Obumazombie, if you have a problem with that, it's just your opinion.   

[thundley4]

Dear DUmmies,

Get a job and be an asset to your employer. You will have people call to check on you when you don't show up for work.  If I'm more than a few minutes late and don't call them first, then someone usually calls me.