Census Bureau Requests Law Enforcement Assistance to Protect Listers

The Census Bureau has requested assistance by local law enforcement to protect employees going door to door to engage in the Decennial Census count. The count, which is set to begin in the continental U.S. in April, is the largest enumeration the federal government takes every ten years and requires more than a half million government employees, known as listers or enumerators, to visit homes to collect data on the U.S. population.

In a letter from the Census Bureau to law enforcement professionals around the country, Bureau Director Dr. Steven Dillingham and Commerce Department Inspector General (IG) Peggy Gustafson explain, “This constitutionally mandated effort, which requires that every living person in the country be counted, contributes to most of the major statistical reports used by American businesses and government entities- including law enforcement agencies… In carrying out their duties under Title 13 of the U.S. Code, Census employees are required to approach homes and business to gather information, an inherently risky interaction that subjects the employees to potential violence.”

The letter explains that over the years, census employees have been victims of robberies, carjackings, and kidnappings. During the 2010 Decennial Census, the letter explains that employees visited 47 million homes and were the victims of more than 700 reported acts of violence.

In a 2010 report on violence against census employees during that year’s count, the Washington Post found that, in one month, workers knocking on doors to collect information faced 29 threats involving a gun, four robberies, and three instances of being held against their will or carjacked. More than 113 census listers had been victims of some form of assault or attack that month.

To combat these threats, the letter from Dr. Dillingham and IG Gustafson explains that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) will seek state and local law enforcement assistance in the detection, reporting, and prosecution of violent crimes against Census Bureau workers.

“The Census Bureau typically notifies local law enforcement prior to activity in local communities by Census workers, and we appreciate your help with aggressively pursuing the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes committed against them and their property. While assault of a Census employee is a federal crime, it is generally prosecuted at the local level,” the letter reads. “For instance, in January 2012, a Cook County (Georgia) grand jury indicted a Georgia man for state charges of assault and destruction of property related to a Census Bureau employee being physically beaten and stabbed with a knife while on the Job during the 2010 Census. The defendant later pleaded guilty to one count of Battery and one count of Criminal Trespass.”

The letter encourages local law enforcement to utilize the OIG hotline as a resource for reporting activity against listers. Complaints can be submitted via phone at (800) 424-5197 or online at https://doc.govcomhotline.com/.