Whats up with people calling cops to do a welfare check ?
Posted by oneoftwentygoodmen@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 17 comments
Sydney Wilson, 33, recently was fatally shot by a police officer after she tried to stab him when he knocked on her door.
And guess what, somebody called for a welfare check on her. It feels like every other police shooting has been instigated by one nosy guy calling 911, there has been other police shootings due to welfare checks. Where the “victim” gets shot.
Where I’m from, you call the police to report a crime, there is no such thing as a welfare check, it seems so weird and dangerous and invasive. Why do cops go out of their way to do this weird service to nobodies that call 911?
Recent-Irish@reddit
Welfare check- “Hey please go knock on the door of this person and see if they’re still alive”
Also, Wilson isn’t a victim. It’s unfortunate what happened but trying to stab a police officer is a bad idea.
ExqueeriencedLesbian@reddit
the problem is that its not just an alive check
quite often its a "this person is going full schizo and is a threat to themselves or others" welfare check, like this one was
you cant send an unarmed person to an unpredictable crazy persons house. because the unarmed person might get stabbed to death if they dont have their own weapon
oneoftwentygoodmen@reddit (OP)
Thats why I put it in quotes, still though, she might’ve been on drugs minding her own business, at a state of paranoia, where an armed individual knocking on her door triggered a crazed reaction
Recent-Irish@reddit
So I don’t understand your confusion here? Someone called for someone to check on her?
ExqueeriencedLesbian@reddit
the video kinda answers the question for you
its because when the crazy person lunges out of the door with a knife slashing wildly at peoples faces, you want the person doing the welfare check, to be able to preserve their own welfare.
if they sent a counselor the counselor would be dead
MantecaEnTuCulo@reddit
Ha4ambe had days like this… Diks out for Sydney
NoCountryForOld_Zen@reddit
American paramedic, here. I'd frequently get these calls.
There are usually 3 results for these calls.
90% of the time, it's a confused old lady who's deaf and can't hear her phone ringing. Kids keep trying to call her but she can't hear her phone ringing so she doesn't answer. The kids worry so they call 911 to have someone check in on them.
5% of the time, the person has fallen and they're stuck somewhere. We have to dramatically break down the door and help them. Sometimes they're injured and need to be transported to the hospital. Sometimes they're on the floor for days, unable to stand.
4% of the time, it's a dead person. Nobody has seen them for weeks or months and somebody finally got worried enough to call for us to check on them. I've discovered a lot of suicides this way.
1% of the time, which is likely what you're talking about, it's a person with a severe mental illness. They're having a psychotic episode from bipolar or schizophrenia and they're extremely combative, delusional and most of all; scared to death. When we show up, we usually talk for hours to try to convince them to go to the hospital so they don't hurt themselves or other people. Most of the time they go willingly but occasionally they will fight you. Sometimes medicating them works, sometimes tackling and restraining them works but on very rare occasions... they grab a knife and try to kill one of us. At this point, there's no other alternative. The cops have to defend us and themselves and they have to shoot them. Sometimes it's justified, sometimes it's not.
tsukiii@reddit
Welfare/wellness checks are useful services. The person requesting a check on Sydney Wilson was right… she was not well and was probably going to try to stab anyone who knocked on her door. Better a professional than a family member or well-meaning neighbor.
Usually you call for a check when you are concerned about someone’s wellbeing. Often it saves lives, like in the case of any person who has become incapacitated and can’t call for help. Or the police respond and see that more investigation is needed and a crime has likely been committed against the person.
wormbreath@reddit
Because we have basic empathy and are concerned about people? Yikes man.
musenna@reddit
What’s with Americans and their [spins wheel] compassion for others?
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Phil_ODendron@reddit
Where are you from?
What would you do in this case: your family member lives on the other side of the country (hundreds and hundreds of miles away.) They are retired and live alone. You talk to them frequently, but suddenly you haven't heard from them in a week. What happens then?
Certainly a "wellness check" is something that probably exists in your country, even if it's called by some other name.
tsukiii@reddit
Looks like Saudi Arabia from the post history
Grunt08@reddit
If her response to a cop checking to see if she was okay (the purpose of a wellness check) was to stab him in the face, she was obviously not...well. Perhaps...in need of a check of her wellness.
It is generally the case that police respond to emergency calls. Also, the sky will probably show shades of blue tomorrow.
That's very backward and not something to be proud of.
Wellness checks and 911 calls are generally completely different things. Weird how you got so animated without understanding what you were talking about.
MrLongWalk@reddit
we just aren't as advanced as wherever you're from.
OhThrowed@reddit
Let's say you line 500 miles away from your sister. She's the only family you have, you're the only family she has. You are speaking to her on the phone when she says, "Life just isn't worth living" and hangs up on you. What would you do? Here, when we're worried about someone, we can ask the police to swing by and check on them.
musenna@reddit
Would it have been better if a random neighbor had checked in on her and gotten stabbed?