Why are Hospitals Targets?
Part of a hospital’s image has been to maintain an open door policy for anyone that wants to come to visit a sick family member or loved-one. If you’re close to my age, you may even remember when people used to go to the hospital just to see the babies. There was nothing unusual at all about being on the baby floor. But as crime has continued to grow in this country, we find we are not guaranteed safety in our businesses, our schools, or even in our own homes. All of these places have become targets of criminal assault, and as a result, we have been forced to increase security in every facet of our public and private life — all of this in an effort to keep crime away. Most hospitals have been slow to follow suit. Even today, many hospitals still have the same open door policy they have practiced for decades. Hospitals are targets because they are open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These public access facilities have been conditioned over the years to allow scores of
