Las Vegas Homeowner Pulls Gun on Census Taker

LAS VEGAS - Metro Police swarmed a neighborhood near Desert Inn and Pecos Friday afternoon. A second visit by a Census worker intensified at the doorway of a home in that area.

"The Census worker alleges that the homeowner pulled a gun on her. The homeowner, of course, alleges the Census worker was being pushy and pushy and wouldn't leave, and went around the side of the house," Metro Sgt. Ken Romane said. "It was kind of a high priority call the way it came out, so we got here pretty quickly."

Chopper 8 hovered above as police questioned the homeowner. Metro says she had a shotgun in her possession inside the home, but the woman was not arrested or charged. "At the end of the day, we really had no crime because of conflicting stories," Sgt. Romane said. "Nobody wanted to prosecute. Everybody just wanted to leave." The homeowner did not answer her door when 8 News NOW tried to get an interview, but neighbors say she is very nice and suffering from cancer.

The U.S. Census Bureau says this is an extreme case. "This is only the second time something like this has happened in the entire Denver region, 11 states," said Census Chief Government Liaison for Nevada David Byerman.

http://www.8newsnow.com/global/story.asp?s=12525232

And a woman was killed by police after pointing a gun at a census worker and then the police in CA.

YUBA CITY, Calif.—The son of a grandmother fatally shot by Yuba City police says his mother was likely startled when a census worker and officers showed up after dusk.

Police said they were called at 9:04 p.m. Thursday after a census worker reported a man with a gun answered the door of a Yuba City home. The census worker reported residents of the home pointed a firearm at her, said they would not answer any questions, then closed the door, said police spokeswoman Shawna Pavey.

Officers arrived and arrested 51-year-old Lionel Craig Patterson at about 10:20 p.m. on suspicion of assault with a firearm on a peace officer.

During the arrest, Victoria Roger-Vasselin, 67, approached officers from the house carrying a shotgun, Pavey said. Roger-Vasselin was shot multiple times, dying at the scene.

Her son, Christian Biscotti, said Friday his mother was likely frightened by the late visits to the upscale home she shared with Patterson.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15141810

not the best neighborhood.

that we are really being pressured to continually approach people who have made it clear that they are unwilling to participate in the Census. Now this does not give anyone the right to pull a gun. However, it is my opinion, that when someone clearly and emphatically say they will not participate, it's time to leave them alone. Instead you are sent back and if you don't get them to respond, then it's handed off to another evaluator who is to go try to hassle them into cooperation again and so on.

Given the nature of people who don't want to participate, I'm not surprised that the continuing return of Census workers would become a problem. I'm also not surprised that attempting to go around to the back or into a generally considered private area of the property to catch the person would be considered threatening.

I wonder if any other Census workers are finding this pressure untoward?

we were to let it go and not browbeat them and find a proxy. We were told over and over again to just not push it if someone refuses in so many words. Maybe it's the Minnesota approach: "Sorry to bother you! My fault! OK then! Bye now!"

and when I try to find a proxy, they all say, "hey, he's home, I see his car, go ask him, I won't proxy for a neighbor who isn't cooperating." When I tell my team leader this he's gets all pushy and says try again, both for the individual and the proxies. When that hasn't worked, he's taken my refusals and given them to another enumerator. Then he gives me someone else's refusals, somehow thinking that a different person will get a different result. Some refusals are now with their third enumerators.

While I'm enjoying my enumerating experience, I'm sure it has a lot to do with where I live -- a small-town, rural and very politically savvy area. Proxies are very helpful (lots of busybody old ladies who like to talk and gossip), and even the refusals are polite. And actually, now that I think about it, I haven't had any flat-out total refusals -- just people who refuse certain answers.

Is there a way to lodge a complaint without the risk of losing your assignment?

when she was canvassing in the earlier round (the address verification phase) for the census.

funny, mrs. unblock did not sign up to canvas this time. i wonder why?

:shrug:

I do clerical work in Santa Fe, NM, and I'm not an enumerator. I see lots of reports of threats to the enumerators, and I know of at least one where a hun was pulled on the census worker, and I know it was reported to appropriate law enforcement.

It's happening all over. I'm so disgusted at the people who are refusing to cooperate with a simple head count that I think there should be very strong sanctions against those who won't fill out the form or give the basic information requested.

comfortable giving. I've had many otherwise agreeable people refuse to give ages and birthdates and or even the names of their children. They don't have a problem with giving the names of adults, but then balk at all the other data we are collecting. Many get downright incensed when we ask if the rent or own and if they own, do they carry a mortgage. These are not "simple head counts." Even so, I don't understand the resistance, it isn't like all that data isn't available somewhere if someone really wanted to find it.

simplest census ever. Ten questions. In the past they'd ask LOTS of stuff, such as if you owned a TV or had a television or indoor plumbing.

I've been told that we will settle for a simple head count, but we really would like to have names, ages/date of birth, and ethnicity. Keep in mind that all of that information remains confidential for 72 years.

So apparently it isn't enough. However, in a post above, another enumerator says she is not being expected to go back and hassle refusers, whereas I am, and our team is. Perhaps it's a matter of our team leader. I may call someone over his head to find out if he is over-stepping his authority.

every single day there's some change in what's considered important enough to "Hard Fail", meaning send back to the field, a form. We are going crazy ourselves, and I'm sure the enumerators out there are going even crazier.

I will say that the more comments that are put in, the happier we office clerks tend to be. Document, document, document, as I've been known to write on the little Hard Fail form we have.

somebody had to pull out a barbarian marauder.

What's wrong with these people?

CINCINNATI -- A 60-year-old man is charged with threatening a U.S. Census worker with what turned out to be a BB gun.

Hakeem Bilal was being held today in the Hamilton County Jail in Cincinnati, pending a court appearance.

Police arrested him yesterday evening on a charge of aggravated menacing after they said he threatened the worker who came to his residence in Springfield Township. Census workers across the country are knocking on doors of homes that haven't returned 2010 U.S. Census forms.

Police also charged Bilal with a count of drug abuse, saying they found him in possession of marijuana.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/05/18/cincinnati-census-worker-threatened.html?sid=101

Census worker says off-duty cop showed her gun

BARSTOW • An census enumerator from the Census Bureau’s Los Angeles office has filed a report claiming that an off-duty Barstow Police officer showed her a weapon when the worker was performing her duties.

The census employee visited Sgt. Timothy Heiden’s Barstow Heights home at the 34000 block of E Street on Wednesday on 12:30 p.m. Enumerators visit homes in an attempt to gain census information if no census form from that address was returned by mail.

Assistant Regional Census Manager Celeste Jimenez said that there was an altercation between the worker and Heiden. Jimenez said that there was a gun involved but said that she did not know if the weapon was used in a threatening manner. The census worker initially contacted the Barstow Police Department and was directed the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Heiden’s home is not in Barstow city limits.

“The worker followed procedure and filed a report with the sheriff’s department,” said Jimenez. “The fact that a gun was involved was enough of an issue.”

http://www.desertdispatch.com/articles/says-8499-barstow-worker.html

Texas Lawyer Fires Gun At Census Worker Five Times

Texas lawyer Carolyn Barnes, 53, allegedly did not want to answer the ten questions on the census form in a big way. She is accused of firing a gun at Kathleen Gittel, a census worker, five times when she came to her door. Barnes has had a rather lengthy history of run-ins with the law and I do not mean as an advocate.

Barnes was previously arrested in December 2009 for trying to bring a knife into Herman Sweatt Courthouse. She was also previously arrested for bail jumping, making terroristic threats, and coercion of a public servant to just name a few. That last charge stems from January when Barnes was arrested in Austin after she was accused of striking a deputy at the Travis County Courthouse. That charge is still pending.

She was charged with assaulting a public servant, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years behind bars. The case is pending.

She is now booked on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.

http://jonathanturley.org/2010/05/17/texas-lawyer-fires-gun-at-census-worker-five-times/

Police: N. Idaho man fired gun near census worker

ST. MARIES, Idaho (AP) - A northern Idaho man who police say fired his shotgun near a U.S. census worker who was trying to deliver a census form has been cited for exhibition of a deadly weapon, a misdemeanor.

Fifty-4-year-old Richard L. Powell of St. Maries faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The Benewah County Prosecutor's office says that on March 3 Powell told the census worker to get off his property and then fired a shotgun into the air.

http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=12289648

Census workers threatened with crossbow (and machine gun)

A homeowner on the San Juan Ridge allegedly threatened two U.S. Census workers with a machine gun and a crossbow in a “dramatic confrontation” less than a week after census workers began local visits.

“There have been a few incidents, but no (other) police reports have been filed,” said local census office manager Dennis Trinidad, who is responsible for about 1,600 census workers in the region. “As we get to more rural areas, that might create more problems.”

A Nevada County census worker called 911 Friday evening to report a man on the 18000 block of Cruzon Grade Road aimed a crossbow at her earlier that afternoon.

She said he threatened her with a machine gun, although she did not see the weapon.

“Two census workers went to the residence, which had a no-trespassing sign,” said Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal, adding that trespassing laws don't apply to public officials.

http://www.theunion.com/article/20100511/NEWS/100519978/1001&parentprofile=1053

The shotgun scene with the Black Widows motercycle gang is an all time favorite.

See "every which way but loose".

How many of these folks that refuse to participate in the census are more than happy to respond to emails from an executor of a deceased Nigerian billionaire, or provide bank account/pin# information to persons stating that they have won a contest and just have to verify their bank account, or provide their SSN & DOB to a company claiming to provide 'identity protection'.....????

This is only the second time something like this has happened in the entire Denver region, 11 states," said Census Chief Government Liaison for Nevada David Byerman.

Unless he means that involvement by law enforcement, that is an incredibly inaccurate statement.

From direct experience, I can say that statement is completely false. Although very few cases, if any have made the news, I know of one LCO in the Denver region where threats against Census workers, with weapons, are a very common occurrence. The local law enforcement usually shrugs it off and sides with the resident.