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This building houses the medical offices where a psychiatrist was nearly fatally stabbed and her assailant shot to death. (Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff) |
Hub police, hospital security chiefs meet
Assaults spur safety concerns
Boston police met yesterday with security chiefs from the city’s hospitals to discuss ways to make their facilities safer in the wake of several brutal crimes at hospitals in recent weeks. The meeting occurred less than two weeks after a psychiatrist was nearly killed when a patient stabbed her in a medical office at Massachusetts General Hospital and a man was stabbed during a fight at Boston Medical Center.
The meeting also gave police a chance to tell hospital officials how they can help detectives solve crimes that occur outside hospital walls.
For instance, many shooting victims arrive at hospitals in cars driven by friends or family members, rather than by ambulance. Many of those friends and relatives are potential witnesses who flee after dropping off the victim, said Superintendent-in-Chief Daniel Linskey, who was at the meeting, which was led by Commissioner Edward F. Davis and held at department headquarters in Roxbury.
“It might be that the witnesses would rather drop off the victims than get involved,’’ Linskey said. Figures assembled by the department showed that of 199 recent shooting victims, 86 arrived at the hospital in private cars, he said.
Police told the dozens of security officials gathered to try to keep the drivers at the hospital until detectives arrive. If they leave, security officials should document as many details as possible such as make and model of the car and the license plate number, Linskey said.
“We’ve asked that they treat the drop-off vehicle as a potential crime scene,’’ he said.
Linskey said hospital officials were invited to sit in at biweekly command staff meetings during which crime patterns and statistics around the city are analyzed. Police also told hospital officials they want to improve radio communications for security officers. To save precious time, hospital security officers should be able to radio Boston police headquarters directly with a call about a crime in progress, rather than have someone call 911, Linskey said, which is how police learned a doctor had been stabbed at a Mass General medical office on Oct. 27.
Astrid Desrosiers, a 49-year-old psychiatrist, was attacked by her patient, Jay Carciero, a 37-year-old father of four who had been struggling for years with a bipolar disorder. She was saved by an off-duty security officer who fatally shot Carciero. Desrosiers remains in the hospital where she was listed in fair condition yesterday.
Boston police told hospital officials they want to conduct drills at their facilities, replicating emergency situations like a shooter loose in the building, Linskey said.
Bonnie Michelman, director of police security and outside services at Mass General, described the meeting as helpful and said she hopes to continue discussing public safety improvements with Boston police.
The hospital’s security fell under scrutiny not only as a result of Desrosiers’ stabbing but also because a female hospital employee was assaulted on Oct. 22 by a Level 3 sex offender in a restroom.
Officials are conducting an internal review of security and are planning to hire a security specialist to examine their current safety policies and procedures.
“We really believe this is a very safe environment,’’ Michelman said, adding that about 23,000 employees and 60,000 people walk through the hospital’s doors every day. “Obviously, though these are very, very rare events here, they’re extraordinarily troubling.’’
Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
