Hensley, Lori

 

Rom: Howman,DaWdJ.

Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 2:01 PM

To: Hensley, Lori; Obong, Roberto Molnar, Jerald D. Gregar, Sandra K.

Cc: Everson, Lynda Hannah, Daniel Ellinghuysen, Linda;

Johnson, Sheila M. (676); Streeter, Diane Wagner, Steve; Becherer, Charles Boldon,
Brian Carpenter, Billy Carpenter, Jennifer Carter. Kenneth Dzwonkowski, Todd
Elliott, Duane Elsing, James Hibma, Zachary Johns, Nicholas Puccetti,
Stephen Segovia, Joe Shafer, Michael Dechant, David 
Sueject: RE: AFGE VA Police Officer Safety Concerns
Signed By: David.Houlihan@va.gov

The veterans are patients above all. That they are in a hospital is an indication that they
are in a potential state of crisis. To arrest without taking this into consideration puts
the veteran at risk. That is why the process (which has been in place for a long time) needs
to be adhered to. The Chief of Police should be made aware as should I. He is reSponsible
for law enforcement here and I am responsible for the veteran. The recent events that have
brought this up are veterans being handcuffed on the unit which is not apprOpriate. That
veteran was later dropped off without any warning which also was a problem. One veteran was
arrested and removed from the facility before his provider was aware. At the very least, the
veteran should be assessed to see if he is stable or requires suicide precautions, etc.

??-?-Original 

From: Hensley, Lori

Sent: Monday, December 06, 2818 1:38 PM

To: Obong, Roberto Molnar, Jerald D. Gregar, Sandra Houlihan, David J.

Cc: Everson, Lynda Hannah, Daniel 'Lois Ames?; Ellinghuysen, Linda; Johnson, Sheila
M. (676); Streeter, Diane wagner, Steve; Becherer, Charles Boldon, Brian 
Carpenter, Billy Carpenter, Jennifer Carter, Kenneth Dzwonkowski, Todd 
Elliott, Duane Elsing, James Hibma, Zachary Johns, Nicholas Puccetti, Stephen
Segovia, Joe Shafer, Michael Dechant, David P.

Subject: AFGE VA Police Officer Safety Concerns

Importance: High

VA Police Officer Safety Concerns

AFGE has been informed that there are VA Police Officer process changes that are affecting
working conditions and the safety of the VA Officers as well as other employees, veterans,
and outside VA Police Officers which come to our facility.

One issue is when there is an outstanding warrant for a hospitalized veteran and an outside
VA Police Agency has authority to come to the VA and arrest the veteran. Past practice was
that the outside agency came to the VA and informed the VA Police and the VA Police went to
the unit with the arresting Police Officers and gave them backup support if needed. Now the
VA Police are informed that they are to notify the Chief of VA Police and he the C05 about 
the upcoming arrest, get the veteran medically cleared by the Medical Officer of the Day, and
get their prescriptions written and ready to go with the patient. The veteran is also to be
brought to the VA Police Dept. office until the outside agency arrives whileithe VA Police
have no authority/warrant to arrest, apprehend, or handcuff the veteran unless it is to
protect themselves or others after the veteran tries to escape or hurt someone. VA Officers
believe that the veteran will feel it is their last chance to get away from being arrested
and will be at risk for acting out to leave to prevent the arrest and going to jail. As this
may sound like a great process and plan to have the veteran ready to go when the outside
agency arrives, it will put many at a safety risk that is not necessary. One solution might
be to send letters to outside Police Agencies asking them to inform our facility early in the

1

 Man-3?

. morning on a weekday so that preparations can be made for the patient to be cleared and
- medications packaged without the veteran knowing; thus, the past practice of the outside

agency going to the unit with our VA Police as backup during the arrest. Normally dong an
arrest expediently with coordination is the best practice decreasing the need for the use of

force.

Another issue brought to attention is that no VA Police Officer is allowed to arrest a
veteran unless it is cleared by the Chief of VA Police and later the C05. This time it takes
to get this type of communication completed could put many at high risk of getting hurt if
there is need for an apprehension or arrest. What happened to past practice in which our
highly trained professional VA Police Officers were given authority to intervene as needed?

AFGE hopes that these issues can be addressed as soon as possible as safety is everyone's
concern. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Lori Hensley
Chief Steward
AFGE Local 1882