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

Wed Sep 21 18:54:35 UTC 2011

Oh. Thanks for clarifying that! Seems I'm pretty vague on the details
when it comes to those basic criminal laws. 

Perhaps I should consider being informed before I blow off steam? /grin/
Knowing these things and how they work never hurts, although generally
the victim's knowledge of what it is called precisely in the legal sense
is not so helpful at the time.

Well, the important thing is that the police and the prosecutors know
them and will act accordingly... The beginning charge for arrest seems
so, I dunno, petty, but that is often how it goes. The police and
prosecutors can start with the charge they can prove off the bat, then
go ahead from there.

That's how they do it on Law and Order, anyway! /lol/

Tami

On Wed, 2011-09-21 at 13:50 -0400, Marion Gwizdala wrote: 
> Tami,
>     Simple battery is not as simple as it seems. The crime of assault is 
> defined as putting someone in fear, Like saying, "I'm going to hit you!" or 
> making such gestures. Battery is the act of touching someone with the intent 
> of inflicting bodily harm. Simple battery is generally a misdemeanor crime. 
> The next level of battery is aggravated battery and is a circumstantial 
> enhancement to the crime, such as using a weapon. This crime may be 
> aggravated by the circumstances of the woman's disability. Also, the fact 
> that the guard was armed may also constitute an aggravation of the battery 
> charge. All of this will likely come out during the investigation.
> 
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tami Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 11:03 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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