Special report. Hospitals and parking security: shoring up a major crime locale

Parking lots, parking structures, and adjacent perimeter areas--grounds, walkways, and public streets--account for a substantial portion of crimes committed in hospitals. Hospital security directors participating in the most recent International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) Annual Crime Survey (for 1991) reported that 68% of incidents of armed robberies took place in parking and adjacent areas; 62% of vandalism incidents; 56% of rapes; 38% of burglaries; 34% of sexual assaults; 33% of robberies. Parking and adjacent areas registered lower but important frequencies of other crimes--homicide, 19%; simple assault, 16%; theft, 14%. Some 1,042 incidents of auto theft, a crime with virtually 100% occurrence in parking areas, were reported by the 284 hospitals participating in the 1991 survey. In the IAHSS 1989 survey, some 315 hospitals reported 667 incidents of vehicle theft indicating that this should be an area of growing concern. Additionally, a review by the newsletter Parking Security Report of major large dollar lawsuits for negligent security that came before state and federal appeals courts in the 1980s found that 27% of them were based on incidents that took place in parking areas. Clearly, parking security represents a major challenge for hospitals, demanding time, personnel, equipment, and dollars. In previous issues, we have presented a number of case history articles on how individual hospitals are dealing with the problem. In this report, we'll review what a number of other hospitals are doing to harden their parking security setups.