More Than 100 Census Takers Have Been Assaulted Or Attacked This Month

Washington Post:

More than 113 census takers have been the victims of assaults or attacks this month, the U.S. Census Bureau said late Wednesday.

In response to inquiries by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Census Director Robert Groves said the bureau's temporary workers knocking on doors to collect information have faced 29 threats involving a gun, four robberies and three instances of being held against their will or carjacked. Seven workers died in car accidents and one was killed while off duty.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[suek2k]

07:54 PM on 07/19/2010

Sooooo NOT true! I know someone who did it in my area & there is no possible way they did a check on her. You are wrong!!

[suek2k]

07:52 PM on 07/19/2010

She should have been charged with 'leaving' as well... for all she knew, you could have been dead! What a dirtbag!

[suek2k]

07:47 PM on 07/19/2010

True story, I'm sure! 'PRIVATE PROPERTY' not 'FEDERAL'. They would have to have an ORDER to force you to allow them to be there! Even a cop has to leave your property if you tell them to unless commiting a crime... 'Search Warrant", Einstein. A lawyer you are not, Sir!

[suek2k]

07:37 PM on 07/19/2010

If the census takers don't like it, they should treat people better than they do!!! Who do they think they are anyway???? Intruding on our privacy, u would think they would be a little more polite! Do they teach these people to be forceful? Wrong tactic! I myself, would tend to be agressive if 1,2,3 people showed up at my door acting the way they did at my sons door! How DARE they!! Makes me wish I did'nt fill out mine by mail!! I'd like to see them come to MY door and act like that. (The reason HE didn't fill one out is b/c he didn't know if he would even be moved in there yet.) Last (hopefully­) visit from census taker named Mike showed up at the door while I was on the phone w/ my daughter in law today... she has just come home from hospital from having a C section, 2 yr old is sick, she is sick, no one else at home, & she is running late for a Dr's appt- this guy comes to the door, she opens the outside door & tells him she doesn't have time right now, explains why & he acts like HE's more important & holds the outside door open so she can't close it and says "This HAS to be done, NOW!" Who in the HELL does he think HE is??? I called his superV & he said he should have LEFT when she said that! Wish I

[1liberalconspirator]

02:05 PM on 06/01/2010

It shows how truly weak and meaningles­s the far right actually is to try and make an issue about the US Census.

[momcat54]

11:18 AM on 05/29/2010

I was in a small east Texas town getting a burger and gas when I met a very sweet lady who was doing the census. She told me that in three days she had been bit by a dog , chased by a hog had shot dun pulled on her and ibteruped an intimate act . She was quiting on Friday it is an unenviable job buut many people these days are taking jobs they would not ordinarily just because they need the work.

[proggirl]

11:18 AM on 05/29/2010

I could do any temp job during my break between sessions. I chose census work because I love my country and its Constituti­on.
I haven't been threatened but some on my crew have.
The work is coming to an end and it's getting hotter. We have the hardest part, the last part, yet to go. Please take ten minutes and do your duty as a citizen.

[24kgold]

06:50 AM on 05/29/2010

They better start sending the FBI because as long as we have a black president, they will continue to act childish and stoooopid.­..

[Dina k]

05:10 PM on 05/28/2010

While the census workers are defending themselves­...conside­r this...a census worker came to my home 5/17, and through a series of events wound up running over me with her car and fracturing my tailbone and injured my shoulder to where it will require surgery. She was charged with trespassin­g and culpable negligence­. Come to find out...the background screeing for census workers is minimal. Obviously, I have retained a lawyer and am unable to sit down for more than 5 minute rendering me unable to work at this time. So...maybe some of these so called "attacks" were competely justified!

[ChicagoSuz]

09:17 PM on 05/28/2010

Ouch! although I'm curious about the 'series of events' that could possibly result in this from a census worker coming to your door... ??

The writer in me is interested­.

Hope you're feeling better.

[24kgold]

06:44 AM on 05/29/2010

lol, I am interested in the series of events too....

[Dina k]

08:48 AM on 05/29/2010

The Census worker came to my door and asked if she could ask some questions. I am self-emplo­yed and was knee deep with a client shen she came by, I told her I already filled out my census and sent, which I did, and was busy at the moment and offered her to come back later. She continued to insist...t­hen when I went to close my door, she wedged herself in my door preventing me from closing it. I explained to her that she could not do that, yet she pushed on. I finally pushed her out of my doorway while stating that I was going to get her tag and report her. She said ..oh oh I am sorry. I grabbed a pen and pad and walked behind her car, while looking her in the face and stating that I was going to get her tag number. I stood 3 feet behind her car and while I was writing down the info, she put her car in reverse and hit the gas knocking me to the ground, I quickly rolled out of the way and she kept on going. If I had not rolled out of the way, she would have ran right over me.

[proggirl]

11:14 AM on 05/29/2010

I'm a census worker, between teaching appointmen­ts. No attack is justified, by you or us. Wrong.

[wonderman]

01:32 PM on 05/28/2010

What the H do auto accidents and a death off duty have to do with the number of attacks??

[Jdaddy1951]

12:30 PM on 05/28/2010

I'm a U.S. Census agent who does follow-up calls on Census forms which may be incomplete­. Most folks I deal with on the phone are polite and courteous. However, there are also really angry, hostile and verbally abusive people --- folks demanding we prove who we are. When we provide it, they still refuse to participat­e, saying, "I heard it on Fox News" or "I heard it on Rush Limbaugh" that the Census surveys are a scam.

The Census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. Methods of conducting surveys have evolved, just as human technology has evolved.

Participat­ing in the Census is required by law, according to Title 13 of the U.S. Code.. People may refuse to participat­e, but that's likely to result in another telephone call or home visitation­. Eventually­, law enforcemen­t officials could be involved, if the government wants to take it that far. The ultimate outcome could be, at least, someone paying a fine for nonpartici­pation.

Folks arguing they "don't have 10 minutes" --- the time estimated for Census surveys --- often make it worse by complainin­g. Some calls or in-person visits could actually take LESS than 10 minutes, if individual­s would just answer the very dry, relatively simple, mostly "yes or no" questions

Some Census workers are treated very badly. Many live in the communitie­s where they conduct surveys. Folks just trying to do their jobs. Folks whom the verbal abusers would NEVER treat so badly in another situation.

[busterbrownthefirst]

01:51 AM on 05/29/2010

That was a great post. I found the number of people blogging on this article dissing census workers very troubling and ignorant. I hope they read your thoughts.

[Jdaddy1951]

02:25 AM on 05/29/2010

It's better that they cooperate with us than force us to send Large Marge to do a fieldworke­r call. If she comes, they should lock up the liquor. We hear she's a mean drunk. Probably better to just take the 10-minute survey avoid the possible loss of one eye, lol.

[Jdaddy1951]

01:26 AM on 05/30/2010

The other night I conducted a telephone survey with a very well-known actress and former talk show host. (I'm not allowed to say who because all such informatio­n is treated as confidenti­al.) She was very gracious and quick to respond honestly about some questions we had about another member of her household'­s status on April 1, 2010. And she thanked the Census for doing a difficult and tedious job.

Her comment more than made up for the lady I spoke to in the previous call who cussed me out and made rude and untrue remarks about my mother in two different languages. (She stopped, when I replied, in her language, that my mother never worked any street corners.)

[ahalejandro]

11:35 AM on 05/29/2010

Actually your wrong. By law, the U.S. Census in to be conducted once every ten years. But seeing that obama thinks he's god, it has been conducted twice in the last two years. This is in violation of the constituti­on therefore making it illegal.

[Jdaddy1951]

01:20 AM on 05/30/2010

Preparatio­ns for the current Census were in the works long before President Obama was in office, Alejandro, so don't try to hijack this conversati­on for the purpose of a few cheap shots at the current president. There is only one census being taken in 2010. Some people may be asked to confirm that informatio­n was transcribe­d correcly by the Census after it was retrieved from the original Census forms, but that's still a part of the Census process. And a lot of people leave informatio­n out that is actually required by Title 13 of the United States Code.

You can fuss all you want about the supposed "inconveni­ence" of the Census, but it's still required by law. You WILL participat­e in the Census, even if it requires law enforcemen­t officials to accompany the Census field workers to your house. Not participat­ing can result in hefty penalties and even jail terms, if the government wants to take it that far.

I don't know why anyone fusses about participat­ing. The questions are so bland and impersonal­. Most people who put up a fuss ("Ten minutes of my valuable time!") are kind of sheepish about the ruckus they made once they get through it. They remind me of little kids who are surprised when the doctor quietly gave them a shot while they were throwing a tantrum about not wanting to have one.

[busterbrownthefirst]

03:01 PM on 05/30/2010

What you said is incredibly silly, and if you want to sue the federal government­, go right ahead. You'd come out pretty short on legal fees, but stand up for your principles if you don't become convinced you need to reply.

I'm glad jdaddy1951 replied to your post as well, and I also have something to add. A close relative did preliminar­y work for the census last year. As jdaddy1951 said, preliminar­y work was sometimes done to confirm prior informatio­n. Also, the work my relative did was to check house locations and addresses, so that the 2010 mailings were going to all the appropriat­e physical addresses.

Look, census workers are not paid a lot, and as you can see from this article, are sometimes in grave danger due to nuts who listen to fools like Bachmann or Beck. But you might take a pointer from Bachmann--­remember how maybe half a year ago she was saying she would NOT respond to the census and urged the rest of us not to as well? And then she turned around a few months ago and said her family WOULD complete the census?? Well, in between the two she somehow managed to figure out that if enough people in her district did not respond, her entire district would lose HER seat in the House of Representa­tives. So if even that idiot finally got one of the purposes of the census nailed down, I'm sure you can as well.

[jlyn]

10:56 AM on 05/28/2010

I would like to see what states the threats were clustered in, or if they were equally spread throughout­. Are the majority of threats, especially with guns, coming from the Bible belt states? Coming from urban areas, rural areas, inner cities? I think it would be interestin­g to see a breakdown like that. This highlights the lack of education that people in this country receive. The census is a constituti­onally mandated duty of the federal government­. So if you're a God-fearin­', Bible toting, right wingnut birther/te­abagger, you sure had better supported this census. Otherwise, you just proved yourself to be a commie against our constituti­on and the Amurikan way.

[daveleeander]

11:31 AM on 05/28/2010

You seem to be the only uneducated idiot here, other than anyone who would read the Huffington Post on a regular basis. LOL

[ChicagoSuz]

09:14 PM on 05/28/2010

Hmmm... were you forced here at gunpoint?

[lachihuahua]

10:45 AM on 05/28/2010

Now that is just plain sad. So many of the census workers simply needed employment and helping the government count its citizens / residents should never warrant threat of bodily harm or death. Talk about scarry. (nn)

[lastep]

09:53 AM on 05/28/2010

I told my census person to check with the TSA. After the event I went through at the airport in San Jose CA I know they already have all my info and then some.

[kewps]

08:45 AM on 05/28/2010

I hope Glen and Rush are really puffed up and proud of themselves for this outrage. A lot of these people needed these jobs because they lost theirs thanks to the rightie politician­s and deregulati­on; etc. causing the collapse of our economy. What a sad state of affairs.

[Blue-eyes]

11:38 AM on 05/28/2010

I am one of those people and strongly agree with you. Even as an employee of the Census and "inside" we've also received threats through mail! WTH is wrong with people these days?? Didn't have my Grandparen­ts and Parents for roll models , I guess.