A wellness check (also known as a welfare check or a Safe and Well check) is an in-person visit from one or more law enforcement officers, especially in response to a request from a friend or family member who is concerned about the person's wellbeing. [1] [2] [3] [4]
A wellness check may be conducted if a person's loved one has stopped responding, someone with suicidal tendencies has been acting suspiciously, or someone has deviated from regular plans in a concerning manner. [3] Usually, a wellness check is requested for law enforcement to confirm the safety of an elderly loved one. In some circumstances, a wellness check is used for concerned bystanders on the accounts of suspected domestic violence or substance abuse. [5]
In Canada, in addition to feeding information back to the individual that requested the check, descriptions of what happened during these wellness checks as well as details of the surrounding area are listed on the Subject Behavior/ Officer Response (SB/OR) report. This report is often used for Canadian policy development. [6]
In order to respond to wellness calls, officers have to be properly and extensively trained for any task that may occur during a wellness check. For example, they have to be fully aware of alarming health signs related to both physical and mental unwellness. [6] This training ensures that all wellness check requests and operations are performed in a uniform way, as officers must always follow direct protocol. [6] Extensive mental illness training is provided to officers online through a program called Crisis Intervention and De-escalation (CID) training. This training is mandatory for all officers. [6]
In the United Kingdom, following a request for a "Safe and Well" check, police are required to locate people at risk of harm and seek to manage any safeguarding risks. Police officers are required to establish a person's location and ascertain whether the individual is alive, breathing, and conscious but are limited to finding an individual, calling for medical assessment of people who are found where necessary, and feeding back this information to the person or organization that has requested the check. [7]
In the United Kingdom, if law enforcement receives no response during a wellness check after knocking on the subject's door, they are lawfully able to search about the subject's property. [8]
In the United States, if law enforcement receives no response during a wellness check after knocking on the subject's door, they are lawfully able to search about the subject's property. [9] [3]
This is hazardous duty. According to a March 2024 study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, "Calls to police to check on the well-being of individuals were 74 percent more likely to be associated with fatal injury than police responses to an incident where shots had already been fired. This includes wellness checks that did not explicitly involve threats or harm before an encounter with police." [10] (Furthermore, as per the National Institute of Health 33 percent of deaths occur at home; such deaths which are unattended require an investigation by a coroner. [11]
In 2018, American comedian Pete Davidson posted a message to his Instagram that led fans to be concerned for his mental well-being. The New York Police Department conducted a wellness check with Davidson. [12]
Also in 2018, actress Vanessa Marquez was shot and killed by police in a wellness check requested by a neighbor; in mental distress, she had advanced on them with a replica of a gun, begging them to kill her. [13]
In 2024 computer scientist Ward Christensen, inventor of the BBS, was found deceased in his home after his friends requested a wellness check. [14]
In November of 2024, police found 26-year-old OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji dead in his apartment in San Francisco, California, United States when they arrived there to conduct a wellbeing check. [15]
A police officer is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the rank "officer" is legally reserved for military personnel.
Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest.
Suicide by cop (SbC), also known as suicide by police or law-enforcement-assisted suicide, is a suicide method in which a suicidal individual deliberately behaves in a threatening manner with intent to provoke a lethal response from a public safety or law enforcement officer to end their own life.
The Lanterman–Petris–Short (LPS) Act regulates involuntary civil commitment to a mental health institution in the state of California. The act set the precedent for modern mental health commitment procedures in the United States. The bipartisan bill was co-authored by California State Assemblyman Frank D. Lanterman (R) and California State Senators Nicholas C. Petris (D) and Alan Short (D), and signed into law in 1967 by Governor Ronald Reagan. The Act went into full effect on July 1, 1972. It cited seven articles of intent:
A Terry stop in the United States allows the police to briefly detain a person based on reasonable suspicion of involvement in criminal activity. Reasonable suspicion is a lower standard than probable cause which is needed for arrest. When police stop and search a pedestrian, this is commonly known as a stop and frisk. When police stop an automobile, this is known as a traffic stop. If the police stop a motor vehicle on minor infringements in order to investigate other suspected criminal activity, this is known as a pretextual stop. Additional rules apply to stops that occur on a bus.
De-escalation refers to the methods and actions taken to decrease the severity of a conflict, whether of physical, verbal or another nature. It is the opposite of escalation. De-escalation may also refer to approaches in conflict resolution, by which specific measures are taken to avoid behaviours that escalate conflict. De-escalation can be modelled with game theory.
A prison officer (PO) or corrections officer (CO), also known as a correctional law enforcement officer or less formally as a prison guard, is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the security of the facility and its property as well as other law enforcement functions. Most prison officers or corrections officers are employed by the government of the jurisdiction in which they operate, although some are employed by private companies that provide prison services to the government.
As of 2024, more than 1,280,000 sworn law enforcement officers are serving in the United States. About 137,000 of those officers work for federal law enforcement agencies.
Mobile Crisis, or Mobile Crisis Teams (MCT), are an emergency mental health service in the United States and Canada, typically operated by hospital or community mental health agency. They serve the community by providing emergency services to people in crisis, such as mental health evaluations, de-escalation, and/or pointers to local services (including potentially a ride). Evaluations are requested by hospital emergency rooms, ICUs, CCUs, jails, nursing homes, police, or EMS. These services are often available on a 24-hour basis. As of 2023, in parts of the USA and Canada teams can be called via the new suicide & crisis hotline 988 and some other crisis hotlines.
Crisis intervention is a time-limited intervention with a specific psychotherapeutic approach to immediately stabilize those in crisis.
The New York State Office of Mental Health Safety and Security is responsible for providing onsite security and fire safety/prevention services at the 23 state run psychiatric centers located in New York State.
A Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) is a police mental health collaborative program found in North America. The term "CIT" is often used to describe both a program and a training in law enforcement to help guide interactions between law enforcement and those living with a mental illness.
The Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC) is a UK police/mental health unit, whose function is to manage the risk to public figures from stalkers and individuals who are fixated on high profile public figures or prominent protected sites. It was formed in 2006 in acknowledgement that perpetrators of attacks and other unwanted incidents overwhelmingly suffered from psychosis, and could often be identified in advance of any incidents from precursor behavioural signs. Preventive treatment could then be applied, for the protection of the relevant public figures as well as the families and neighbours of the sufferer. It is jointly managed by the Home Office, the Department of Health and Metropolitan Police Service
Antigua and Barbuda ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in February 2010.
The management of domestic violence deals with the treatment of victims of domestic violence and preventing repetitions of such violence. The response to domestic violence in Western countries is typically a combined effort between law enforcement, social services, and health care. The role of each has evolved as domestic violence has been brought more into public view.
CAHOOTS is a mental-health-crisis intervention program in Eugene, Oregon, which has handled some lower-risk emergency calls involving mental illness and homelessness since 1989. This makes it the earliest, or one of the earliest, Mobile Crisis Teams.
Miles Hall was a 23-year-old African American unarmed man who was fatally shot by police officers from the Walnut Creek California Police Department a few blocks from his home during a mental health emergency. His death sparked widespread protests, drawing attention to the issue of police brutality towards people with behavioral and mental health conditions. His killing has led to significant changes in California's approach to handling mental health emergencies, including the passage the Miles Hall Lifeline Act, funding the 988 alternative to 911 for mental health and suicide emergent situations in California. Additionally, in Contra Costa County, where Miles Hall was killed, A3: The Miles Hall Crisis Call Center has been established where 24/7 trained professional mental health staff triage calls and provide care over the phone or send an in-person care teams if needed.
On September 16, 2024, in Reston, Virginia, former college basketball player Sydney Wilson, an African American woman, was shot dead by an Asian American police officer, Peter Liu. After Liu was sent to Wilson's apartment for a welfare check, Wilson brandished a kitchen knife and slashed Liu in the head multiple times before he shot her; she later died in the hospital. Liu had been sent to Wilson's apartment due to mental health concerns, and his response to the incident was widely considered self-defense.
Suchir Balaji was an artificial intelligence researcher and former employee of OpenAI, where he worked from 2020 until 2024. He gained attention for his whistleblowing activities related to artificial intelligence ethics and the inner workings of OpenAI.