Time to explain hospital escapes

With a California judge clearing the way, prosecutors are now moving forward with the extradition of Hawaii State Hospital escapee Randall Saito.

Nearly a full month has passed since Saito, who was acquitted of murder by reason of insanity, slipped away from the psychiatric hospital in Kaneohe, made his way to Maui and then to California — all before the alarm was even sounded. Deputy sheriffs captured him in Stockton, three days after his escape, after receiving a tip from a cab company.

The public is now due for a candid update of what went wrong and a strategy for avoiding future screw-ups.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, state officials did the right thing by tasking six investigators from the state Attorney General’s Office with piecing together how the escape occurred, and suspending without pay seven hospital employees tied to the incident.

The suspensions touched off workplace concerns about long-standing problems at the hospital that struggles with overcrowded patient conditions; an increasing number of high-risk, potentially violent patients; and ever- present concerns about employee safety. But as plans are rolling for Saito’s extradition hearing on the mainland, the public here must be kept up to speed on concerning matters.

For example, the Hawaii Government Employees Association has rightly worried about potential problems linked to forcing employees to work double shifts to compensate for tight staffing in place even before the suspensions. The state Department of Health maintains that its unable to release information on personnel issues, which are confidential. However, an update could disclose whether any high-level staff members were among those suspended.

At a Capitol news conference in mid-November, a visibly vexed Gov. David Ige said: “Clearly we need to know where these patients are, especially those that can be a danger to our community and we need to account for their whereabouts.” Indeed. Saito was acquitted in the 1979 murder of a 29-year-old woman at Ala Moana Center. In the unprovoked attack in the center’s parking lot, he shot the victim at random with a pellet rifle and repeatedly stabbed her with a knife. The public must be apprised on such a patient’s whereabouts.

The call for more transparency and stepped-up protocol was underscored this week as details emerged in the botched handling of a second escapee case.

On Sept. 28, Gregory LaBar, a suspected felon diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, escaped from Kahi Mohala, where the Health Department contracts for 40 beds. Honolulu police subsequently arrested LaBar on Nov. 1 for being in a Waikiki park after hours. But due to an unspecified error, police released him a day later without knowledge of his escape from the Ewa Beach mental health facility. There also was an extradition hold on LaBar, who was wanted for a robbery in Texas.

In this case, an apparent communication error reveals a need to put in place glitch-proof practices and procedures in both state and city agencies.

On the night of LaBar’s escape, the state Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Sheriff’s Division, issued an alert and a news release, which the Star-Advertiser publicized. The Honolulu Police Department said this week it’s now reviewing notification and reporting procedures to pinpoint why an officer did not spot LaBar’s escape status at the time of his arrest.

The public deserves a satisfactory accounting. Let’s hope it’s delivered under the fledgling HPD leadership of Chief Susan Ballard, who is already more candid and accessible than some predecessors.

Saito was the 17th person who had escaped from the State Hospital in the past eight years. Most escapes have occurred when a patient broke “curfew,” failing to return after being allowed to leave for a period of time; in most cases, they have been returned within a few days. But any escape needs to immediately trigger a network of alerts — from media to transit sources — and must include relevant information about the escapee’s risk to public safety.