[nagdu] Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over guide dog

[Tami Kinney]

Good grief! So this illustrates what some have been saying all along
about the problem of privatization of government functions... Nobody
knows who's responsible except that it's not them. Nobody knows what the
correct thing to do is. Personalities who will aggressively attack a
blind woman who is just sitting there... Ah, well. It's what we've got. 

Here is what I did not hear: 

- Who will be paying the medical bills? What about ongoing treatment for
these injuries? Who will step in during the healing process so that this
woman can continue daily function during that process? In other words,
who is the responsible entity, and will they take responsibility? What
about a possible need for treatment for PTSD, which is a naturally
occurring response to having been assaulted? Anyone?

- It's called assault , people! It is a crime. 
- Assault committed against a person with a disability on the basis of
that disability is a hate crime, as of this year. Could we have brought
that up? Does this woman know that? Do the police know that? Is this a
law that is going to be used to crack down on those who commit it?> Or
is it just some printed words on paper that is there to make everybody
feel better? Since the law is new, would it not constitute news and be
mentioned?

- The woman, now a crime victim, wants only better training for the
entities involved. Well, training is a good start. But why wasn't the
training conducted prior to this incident? Right, no one responsible for
ensuring that private security guards in federal offices are properly
trained is commenting. Well, that's news, too. Tells us something, but
we don't know what. Smacks of lack of responsibility to me! We'll all
just hang around and let the police figure it out.

- Maybe a sentence mentioning what the taxpayers were on the hook for in
paying this security guard and the private, for-profit company who did
not train him properly or vet him for personality issues, probably, over
what they would have been paying for a federal employee had the job not
been farmed out... Really, I think this would be important information
to give to the readers, many of whom are also voters. 

Well, the incident is new, the dust is still settling. This is a report
of the incidents, not a deep investigative piece. So I guess I'm just
being snarly. Still. Simple battery? Starting with a civil rights
violation, followed by an assault, including the battery, on a citizen
who was just minding her own business? And the charge is simple battery?
Honestly!

Okay, got my soapbox polished for the day and haven't even finished my
first cup of coffee... /lol/ Step away from the keyboard, Tami...

Tami

On Wed, 2011-09-21 at 09:53 -0400, Ginger Kutsch wrote: 
> Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over guide dog
> 
> By David Ibata 
> 
> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 
> 
> http://www.ajc.com/news/social-security-guard-faces-1185244.html
> 
> Melissa McMann, who is visually impaired, recalls minor incidents in which
> people challenged her about her guide dog, but nothing like what happened
> last week with a security guard at a Social Security Administration office
> in Winder.
> 
>  
> 
> "Usually, once we educate people and explain the purpose of the dog, that's
> all it takes to get people to understand why the dog is there and he's not
> just a regular, run-of-the-mill dog," the Winder resident said of Hurbie,
> her 5-year-old yellow Labrador.
> 
>  
> 
> "We have never run into an incident like this where it escalated so
> quickly," she said in a telephone interview with the AJC. "My arm is still
> bruised, and I still have pain to my shoulder, but otherwise I'm doing OK."
> 
>  
> 
> The guard, Leroy Huff, faces a charge of simple battery after he allegedly
> grabbed the 38-year-old McMann and tried to remove her from the office.
> 
>  
> 
> The Athens man told Channel 2 Action News on Tuesday that he was aware a
> warrant was pending for his arrest and would turn himself in. He said he was
> following orders and his training, but did not want to comment further
> because of the continuing investigation.
> 
>  
> 
> Efforts were being made to reach a spokesman for Huff's employer, Paragon
> Security Services. Paragon provides contract security to the Federal
> Protective Service of the Department of Homeland Security.
> 
>  
> 
> Patti Patterson, regional spokeswoman for the Social Security
> Administration, told Channel 2 in an email, "Service animals are allowed in
> Social Security field offices. We have apologized to Ms. McMann for the
> unfortunate incident that occurred with the contract security guard in our
> Winder field office."
> 
>  
> 
> The matter has been referred to the Federal Protective Service "for
> appropriate action," Patterson said.
> 
>  
> 
> The incident began Thursday afternoon when McMann and her husband,
> Christopher, went to the Social Security office at 37 S. Center St. to
> complete some paperwork for their youngest daughter, who they adopted from
> Thailand.
> 
>  
> 
> According to a Winder Police Department report, as the couple was seated
> waiting to be called, Huff, an armed security guard, came up and told them
> dogs were not allowed in the facility.
> 
>  
> 
> When the couple explained that the Labrador was a service dog and legally
> allowed to there, the officer demanded to see papers to prove it - even
> though the dog had a guide harness and a sign attached to the harness
> stating it was "a working dog for the blind," the police report said.
> 
>  
> 
> The McManns said they did not have such paperwork and continued to protest
> that the dog was a permitted animal. At this point, the police report says,
> Huff "proceeded to grab (the woman) and attempted to forcefully remove her
> from the building." The husband objected and called the police on his cell
> phone.
> 
>  
> 
> Huff told a Winder police officer that the woman had failed to obey him. He
> admitted she had not tried to resist him physically. When asked why he did
> not call the police, "Huff informed me that he did not have to call the
> police. He told me he was a federal officer and was not required to involve
> the police," the officer wrote in his report.
> 
>  
> 
> The officer contacted Paragon, which referred him to the Federal Protective
> Service. An official there said Huff was not a federal officer and in this
> situation should have called Winder police, his supervisor or the federal
> agency.
> 
>  
> 
> The McManns, meanwhile, went to their primary care physician and then to a
> hospital emergency room, where a doctor treated her for a bruised right arm
> and determined her shoulder may have been dislocated, police said.
> 
>  
> 
> Melissa McMann said she has retinitis pigmentosa or RP, a condition that has
> left her with little functional sight. Hurbie is her second service dog;
> she's had the animals for 10 years. They're trained by the Florida-based
> Southeastern Guide Dogs.
> 
>  
> 
> "It was something we were not expecting, especially in a federal building,"
> she said. "It was a frightening incident, and obviously we feel (Huff) went
> too far.
> 
>  
> 
> "All that we're looking for at this point is for the security company that
> has the contract with Social Security to understand the importance of
> educating all of the people that work for them as to the laws regarding
> service dogs and also with regard to not placing their hands on people - you
> just can't go placing your hands on people."
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
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