The terrible tragedy that happened at the St. Cloud Hospital recently has caused a spotlight of glaring scrutiny to shine on that facility – and rightfully so.
On Oct. 18, a psychotic patient wrested a gun away from an Aitkin County sheriff’s deputy guarding the patient, turned the gun on the deputy and shot him dead. Security personnel then burst into the room and tased and subdued the man, who died not long afterward.
The patient had been admitted to the hospital several days before after he allegedly brutalized and mentally terrorized his wife, who had a restraining order against him. The man then attempted to kill himself with some kind of pills. Deputies found the man in bad condition at his Aitken County home and had him transported to the hospital.
In his hospital room (in a non-secured area), the patient, once he emerged from death’s shadow, was physically restless, erratic, suicidal, threatening – clearly dangerous. By all accounts, he should have been kept in a mental ward under lock and key and perhaps even physical restraints. But the man wasn’t even evaluated by a psychiatrist. He was obviously a ticking human time bomb about to explode.
Under official reviews, the hospital was severely criticized for its lax security policy and for not initiating requirements of the policy it does have. The hospital was ordered to correct such dangerous lapses immediately.
This horrible incident recalls another tragedy about 10 years ago at the Sherburne County Jail. A young man named Carl Moyle, Elk River, was arrested for not having proof of vehicle insurance. He was placed in jail and was told he would have to spend the night until the matter could be resolved. Meantime, a convicted felon from a prison near Duluth was transferred to the Sherburne County Jail so he could attend an upcoming court hearing in the area. During the night, the convict ripped a handicapped rail off of his cell wall, walked into the adjoining cell and proceeded to beat to death Moyle, who was sleeping at the time of the attack.
An investigation later showed an extremely poor lack of communication among those who transferred the felon and the jail that accepted him, placing him in the general jail population instead of being locked up in a cell by himself.
Like the St. Cloud Hospital incident, both murders could have been prevented were it not for sloppy, lax or nonexistent policies, which put – in these two cases – extremely dangerous, psychopathic perpetrators in close proximity to those who became their victims.
We are assured by the St. Cloud Hospital management the facility has hurried to make major changes in its security policies regarding the admission and care of mentally unstable patients. The changes sound like good, solid ones. We can only hope and trust the policies are adhered to in the most iron-clad protocol. Think what could have happened if that man, after shooting the deputy dead, had run amok down the hallways shooting anybody else he felt like shooting?
In this sometimes all-too dangerous world, there seems to be an increase of incidents of mentally unstable people coming completely unglued and exploding with rage in public places. The award-winning St. Cloud Hospital, so excellent in so many ways and such a life-saver, in fact, has had to deal every now and then with out-of-control people who have threatened or assaulted staff and patients.
All public places – including schools, courthouses, hospitals and other venues – must make sure to review their security policies on a regular basis to ensure the public can be safe. That’s also a good policy for private places where people gather.
In this dangerous world (witness what happened Nov. 13 in Paris), those kinds of public-security safeguards must be placed among the very top priorities.
