Washington Post: After fatal shooting at El Paso clinic, VA police highlight nationwide security lapses

After last week’s fatal shooting of a psychologist inside an El Paso Veterans Affairs clinic by an Iraq war veteran, the VA’s police force is renewing its long-running calls for more staff, better training and increased resources – from fixing broken radios and cameras to installing metal detectors and developing clear procedures for how to deal with agitated patients.

“No one with the VA Police I know was surprised to hear about the shooting because safety and security has been asystemicproblem which has gone unaddressed for years,” said John Glidewell, former chiefof police at the Cheyenne, Wyo., VA medical center. “These are the same issues we have been screaming (begging) for help with the entire 10.5 years I have been with the VA Police.”

The problem has grown even more urgent in recent months, police actvists say, after veterans grew increasingly frustrated with the VA when it came to light that the agency was lying about patient wait times. It was a scandal that cost then VA secretary Eric Shinseki his job and caused promises of widespread reform.

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