The importunity of police welfare checks in Alaska
No one knows how frequently Alaska State Troopers and the hundreds of city, town, municipal and borough police departments in Alaska do “welfare checks” on individuals reported by concerned members of the community
One particularly egregious example involved a school principal.
State troopers, misled by false court order, detained school principal for mental health check
State troopers mistakenly took Alaska’s 2022 Principal of the Year into custody for a mental health examination last week after a family member presented troopers with a document they said was signed by a state judge. ¶That wasn’t true, and Troopers and the Alaska Court System confirmed the mistake Tuesday, … ¶James Cockrell, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, has ordered a full internal review of the incident, the department said. ¶“Based on the limited information we have been able to learn about this incident from the Alaska Court System it appears that we made a mistake …,” Cockrell said in a written statement.
TLD Staff
A welfare check, also known as a wellness check, is when police stop by a person’s home to make sure they are okay. Requests for welfare checks are made by friends, family, and neighbors, typically after someone unexpectedly stops answer their phone or getting in touch with others. ¶Most people think of the police as patrolling the streets looking for wrongdoers or responding to calls. What many people don’t realize is that the police in their community are also available to conduct welfare checks. This essential law enforcement function is an important tool for building safe communities.
The Bible tells us the true story of welfare checks. Brothers’ keepers with guilty consciences and fallen countenances in blue uniforms should not be carrying deadly weapons to “check on” law-abiding citizens.
[Gen. 4:9] And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
A welfare check, also known as a wellness check, is a service provided by police to ensure the well-being of individuals who may be at risk. Typically, these checks are requested by friends, family, or neighbors when someone unexpectedly stops answering their phone or fails to make contact for a prolonged period.
Michael Fraley, BS, BA, NRP
Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates being checked on, or even having their doorbell rung. The very reason the person needs to be checked on or the issue preventing them from answering calls from loved ones may cause them to respond inappropriately to uniformed personnel stepping onto their porch.
Unlike police officers, firefighters at least acknowledge the importunity of hostile armed visitors knocking on the door of private residences on vague community-based suspicions without a warrant.
Navigating Care From Afar: Ethical Considerations for Police Welfare Checks
The clinical practice of contacting law enforcement to perform safety welfare checks for persons who have missed psychiatry appointments is commonly regarded as benign. However, in nonemergency situations, these interventions may carry greater risk than is usually assumed …
“The clinical practice of contacting law enforcement.” I do believe we can disabuse ourselves of any pretensions of clinical practice or healing arts right then and there and put an immediate stop to such shoddy legal practices. And it is capital.
Office of the Law Revision Counsel
If you were regulated by state or national boards of psychiatry or psychology, now that you have called the law, you are up against the mandatory bar associations that regulate practices of law.
The same to such gentlemanly psychiatrists and psychologists as to all unionized and pensioned and health-care-provided blue-collar working cops on the beat. You called the law on your brother or sister, so once more, to all head-shrinks and related professionals at law, lay your wagers on the table, make your bets like men, belly up to the bar and drink what's served to you to the last drop.