Once considered safe havens, health care institutions today are confronting steadily increasing rates of crime, including violent crime,” said an alert issued last year by the Joint Commission, a national accrediting agency. Since 2004, the number of assaults, rapes and murders reported to the Joint Commission rose steadily, with the greatest number of reports in the last three years: There were 36 incidents nationwide in 2007, 41 in 2008 and 33 in 2009. According to the Joint Commission’s voluntary reporting system, there were 256 assaults, rapes or homicides of patients and visitors at American health centers since 1995, with 110 of those acts occurring after 2007.
While shootings and rapes are acts of extreme violence, the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) 2010 crime and security trends survey reports that burglary, larceny, vandalism and motor vehicle theft are also prevalent in health care settings, particularly in parking structures. Hospital parking lots provide ample auto theft opportunities for the perpetrator who specializes in stealing cars. The total number of larcenies increased in 2010, but overall the trend has been decreasing over time. Similarly, the number of motor vehicle thefts has varied from year to year, but shows an overall decline across survey years.