By CSLEA Supervicing Legal Counsel David De La Riva
CSLEA representatives including Supervising Legal Counsel David De La Riva participated in a meet-and-greet session with newly appointed Patton State Hospital Executive Director Veronica Kaufman on July 10, 2025. Joining De La Riva were CSLEA site representatives/Hospital Police Officers (HPO) Michael Hakker and David Arroyo. Also present were members of the Patton State Hospital Executive Team, which is made up of management personnel who help shape the policies and procedures associated with the Patton facility as a whole.
The chief topic addressed by CSLEA was the continuing attempt to ensure the safety and security of its HPO personnel when they are called upon to perform their duties. HPOs are employed by the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) at Atascadero, Coalinga, Metropolitan, Napa and Patton. As is widely known, the California Penal Code provides that HPOs may carry firearms while on-duty, but only if authorized to do so by the Director of DSH. Even though HPOs patrol the open campuses that house individuals who have been found to be incompetent to stand trial and not guilty by reason of insanity and even though HPOs transport those same patients on the streets and highways of California so they may attend court hearings or seek medical treatment, DSH authorizes no HPOs to carry firearms while on-duty. DSH also employs Investigators who are stationed at each of its facilities and they do have access to firearms, but only in limited/emergency circumstances, such as active shooter situations.
Highlighted during the meeting with Director Kaufman was a situation occurring in March 2025. CSLEA was made aware that HPO staff at Patton pulled over a wandering suspicious vehicle on hospital grounds. Based on the training and experience of the officers who pulled the vehicle over and based on remarks made by the driver of the vehicle, it was determined the driver posed a threat that the officers were incapable of coping with. The driver was released and locally armed police agencies were alerted of the driver and his vehicle. Ultimately, reports were received by Patton HPO personnel that the driver of the vehicle was in fact armed and later engaged members of the Hesperia Police Department in a standoff. By late March, Patton HPO personnel were working under a new directive eliminating traffic enforcement responsibilities when there are no Investigator staff on-duty (evenings, weekends, holidays). CSLEA hopes these examples of change to policy and practice will ultimately give way to the realizations that DSH must take a more modern approach to its policing protocol.
CSLEA welcomes Director Kaufman to her new position and it will continue to engage and encourage DSH management to give its peace officer staff the equipment it needs to make its facilities, like Patton as safe as possible in an ever-changing world.
