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

Natalie nrorrell at qwest.net
Wed Sep 21 16:37:15 UTC 2011


Right on, Tami.  You hit the nail right on the head.
Best,
Nat and Liam Joshua

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tami Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 9:03 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over guide 
dog


> 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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