Psych Techs injured in altercations with
sexually violent predators at Atascadero

Small groups of Atascadero State Hospital patients in the relatively new category of "sexually violent predator" recently caused two altercations with Psych Techs and other staff, raising concerns that they may be testing the hospital's security and safety procedures.

"If they're testing the system to find out how much they can get away with, they're finding the answer is not very much," says Mike Gothro, CAPT's chapter president at the hospital.

SVPs have served their prison time, are on parole and are moved to Atascadero instead of being freed into the community. If they're involved in major problems at ASH, their parole is revoked and they go back to prison. This happened to five patients involved in the first incident and the same will happen to five in the second altercation.

"The administration believes these 10 were the ring-leaders and with them out of here, things will calm down," Gothro says.

The first incident was April 29 when employees attempted to put a hostile patient in restraints. He fled to a bathroom where he barricaded himself against staff. Another SVP attacked staff members trying to subdue the first patient.

Two other SVPs tried to get other patients involved, but they didn't succeed. Eventually, the scuffle ended, but not before four employees received minor injuries.

On May 8, the second incident began when one SVP was making inappropriate sexual comments to a female RN. This escalated into verbal threats against the nurse.

Staff attempted to move the patient to a different ward, but other SVPs blocked the hallway, Gothro says, adding that they were making comments such as: "You're not going to take our homey." Again, the altercation ended soon, this time with no staff injuries.

The SVP law, which took effect in January 1996, lets the state keep certain prison inmates from being paroled into the community when they've completed their sentence if it's determined they still pose a serious danger to society.

Gothro says the approximately 180 SVPs pose a new challenge to staff because very few are diagnosed as psychotic, while the hospital's other 900 patients are.

"The SVP's are really bright people, but very predatory and extremely manipulative," Gothro says. "They've learned to work the system in state prison, so they try to do the same here."