The "Welfare Check"

One night, working the graveyard shift in 2008, Deputies were dispatched to a 9-1-1 cellular call in a small town, where a Hispanic man was threatening to commit suicide. Because the call was on a cellular phone, and not the newer phones with GPS, all we could do is triangulate the signal and search for a person that was suspicious in the area.


We eventually got the guys first name, and searched our database to any and all known persons living in this small town with that name. We knew the man was a local, we knew his first name, and we knew that he had family in the area as well. So the Deputies went door to door, checking on the known houses that had persons living there with the known first name.

Conducting such a check in law enforcement is called a "Welfare Check!" A Welfare Check does not require law enforcement to obtain a search warrant from the courts to search the welfare of a person or person(s). In fact it is considered a exigent circumstance, which allows law enforcement to perform a warrantless search on the condition that it is to only check the condition of the person or person(s) that may be in danger.

Now the town we were checking is dominated by poor White, Hispanic, and some Asians. We only had a handfull of houses to check, so we went door to door checking those residences. My partner walked up to one house asking this older Hispanic lady if there was a person living at the residence by the name of Marcus. The lady told my partner, "Yes!" So my partner advised her that we had a situation going on and we had to do a "Welfare Check." The Old Hispanic Lady, very polite, told my partner that she understood and welcomed him into her home. After my partner searched around, he didn't find who was looking for, even though he did find the man that had the matching name. My partner thanked the Old Hispanic Lady for allowing him to check the house. The Old Hispanic Lady again stated she understood, and told my partner that, he might go check out the house two doors down, because she knows for certain that house is on "Welfare" too and receives "Checks" in the mail!!!

My partner could not help but to hold back his laughter until he got outside to his patrol vehicle. It was then that he told me the story and he burst into laughter. I never seen him laugh so hard. This story though became the highlight of the night. I call this the "Welfare Check" story.