SEATTLE – Harborview Medical Center public safety officers are complaining that the hospital is not providing enough security training and equipment for dealing with excessive violence.
In the past two months, there have been 15 assaults at the hospital, and many of the officers planned to protest. Recently, some of the officers also passed out flyers that read, “Harborview shouldn’t hurt you,” and displayed an image of a security officer with a black eye.
One officer, who previously worked for more than 20 years in law enforcement, said he has been in more fights at Harborview than he ever was in his past work. He received two breaks to his thumb in one of these altercations. Another officer has had to go to the emergency room six times to get treatment for job-related injuries.
A hospital spokesperson responding to the complaints says the medical center has a substantial program for training their officers and the hospital often reviews the security practices. Specifically, the officers are trained in de-escalation techniques and are equipped with batons. She pointed out that the hospital has three times more security than other hospitals in the area and noted that the public safety officers are not police.
According to hospital officials, reviews conducted last July revealed no security discrepancies. Tyler Miller, a security officer, intends to contradict the review results. After a privacy concern for a patient arose after he reported an incident to Seattle police, Miller was placed on administrative leave.
The officers say they want to ensure they are able to protect hospital staff members, patients, visitors and themselves, and want to continue working at Harborview. They are requesting stun guns and pepper gel (a pepper spray variant). The hospital contends the officers already have what they need and are safe with the training the hospital provided.
