Today the police rolled up on the Red Bullet.
I was at an abandoned hotel with a peer, working the Eight Dimensions of Wellness and feeding a feral cat community — a community I have twice tried to collaborate on with the local no-kill shelter, and twice been met with flippancy and dismissiveness. So we feed the cats ourselves.
When the cruiser pulled in, the Honey Badger got out of the Red Bullet with her business card in hand and walked straight up to the police car. I told them who I was. I told them what I was doing. I told them I am with Heart of Care — Full Spectrum Community Treatment Service, out with a peer, feeding a feral cat community that no one else has stepped up for. I gave my name. I gave my birth date. I handed over a business card with all of my information on it.
The first officer was a female officer. She was so flippant about what I offered that it caught me off guard. I told her plainly: I run a crisis support unit that is self-supported — a full-spectrum community treatment service, Heart of Care. I even invited her to look at the card. She asked nothing about it. She cared nothing about it. She handed it back to me like it was nothing.
They felt called to call a second officer. A male officer showed up. And then he left. There was no need for a second officer. Nothing had transpired. Absolutely nothing. I was parked at the front of an abandoned hotel in daylight, putting food down for cats, working the Eight Dimensions with a peer. That was the whole crime scene.
Then they asked for my driver's license.
I was not driving. The vehicle was parked. So I asked — plainly — why I was being asked for a driver's license when I was not operating a vehicle. I even acknowledged for them, out loud, that yes, I know that hotel has had a lot of vandalism. Which is exactly why it makes no sense to suspect me: it was daylight, I was parked at the front of the hotel, and I was not walking off with anybody's merchandise. I was putting food down for cats.
I am in the community running a mobile crisis unit with my own money — not your money! Not your government money! With my hard-earned money that I make. You get that right.
And I am serving my community! For my God!
So this is a PSA — to every officer who rolls up on the Red Bullet
- The Red Bullet is a mobile crisis and community treatment unit. It is not a lookout. It is not a scrap operation. It is a peer-support vehicle on wheels.
- It is funded by my paycheck. Not by the county. Not by the state. Not by a grant. My hard-earned money, spent on food, water, harm-reduction supplies, cat food, gas, and time.
- When I approach you with a business card, I am identifying myself in good faith. I am Briana F. Harden, CPS-MH, PBT — Heart of Care, Full Spectrum Community Treatment Service. That card is the truth.
- If I am parked, I am not driving. A driver's license request is irrelevant to a parked, non-operating vehicle. Ask the right question and I will answer it directly.
- I feed feral cats because the local no-kill shelter would not collaborate. I serve people in recovery because the system does not always show up. That is the whole job description.
I have offered help — repeatedly — and been met with silence
I want to be clear about something. This is not the first time I have tried to serve the people in uniform who serve this community. I have offered the Glynn County Sheriff's Department trauma-informed care and coping skills for their department. I have reached out to Sheriff Neil Jump personally, by email and by letter. I have been to the Glynn Police Department. Crickets. I love how this community loves what is being offered so freely.
So, you are welcome, Glynn County Police Department. I am glad you are interested enough to roll up, but not interested enough to ask what I actually do. I will keep showing up anyway.
I am direct. I am open. I will give you my name, my date of birth, my card, and a straight answer to a straight question. I will not, however, pretend that feeding cats in daylight at the front of a building is suspicious behavior. And I will not pretend that a parked car needs a driver's license.
I am not here to fight the police. I am here to work alongside my community — including you. But please: know the difference between a lookout and a Honey Badger with a business card.
Honey and teeth. Both, on purpose. ✿