Victim’s Kin Blast Security at Mental Health Clinics

Nearly a year after psychiatric social worker Robbyn Panitch was stabbed to death at a Santa Monica clinic, her parents criticized the city attorney’s office for not prosecuting clinic operators and county mental health officials for failing to take safety measures.

At the same time, Allan and Gloria Panitch asked the state attorney general’s office to launch its own investigation into the alleged failure of management personnel to protect employees at the Santa Monica West Mental Health center, where Robbyn Panitch was stabbed 31 times last Feb. 21.

According to a Jan. 18 letter sent by Santa Monica Deputy City Atty. Jerry P. Gordon to 10 clinic operators and county mental health officials, city prosecutors decided not to file charges, in part, because of the financial crisis in the state mental health care system.

While the “failure to provide for (Robbyn Panitch’s) safety was both a false economy and a mistake of tragic proportions,” Gordon noted, it occurred at a time when the county’s mental health system was in financial chaos and facing severe cutbacks in operations.

Had the 10 administrators been charged with misdemeanor violations, they each could have faced up to six months in jail and $10,000 in fines. The one-year statute of limitations for filing charges runs out Feb. 21.

Gordon concluded the letter with the admonition that such “serious consideration” given to criminal prosecution should prompt “all the affected . . . administrators” to ensure the safety of their employees.

But an angry Allan Panitch said prosecution was necessary to “send a message” to mental health care administrators that they are required by law to provide a safe environment for social workers.

Panitch and his wife were joined at a news conference Friday by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-West Los Angeles), who also criticized the city attorney’s decision not to prosecute.

“I find this to be an outrageous decision because it exonerates people who, according to the investigation, are responsible for the lack of workplace safety,” said Hayden, who is chairman of the Assembly Labor Committee. “It is an absolute legal right for every worker (in the state) to be safe.”

Hayden said he has a bill pending in the state Senate aimed at requiring counties to improve safety conditions for mental health workers.

“It’s not even a fiscal issue,” he added. “The cost of providing an alarm system in the workplace, the cost of rearranging furniture, the cost of locks on the doors, according to this report, is negligible.”

The city attorney’s office declined to comment on Friday’s statements by Hayden and the Panitches.

David Scott Smith, 26, a transient, was charged with murder in the Panitch killing. He told police that he killed the psychiatric social worker because he saw her as the “Antichrist” and was frustrated that she was unable to help him. Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Wilkinson said a trial date will be set for Smith next month in Santa Monica Superior Court.

The Panitches said Friday that their daughter had been fearful of Scott and had asked for special security measures that would protect her from him. They said clinic officials failed to act on her requests.

For that reason, the parents sought the investigation of clinic operators and the county’s Mental Health Department.

Last summer, the state’s worker safety agency, Cal/OSHA, cited Los Angeles County for what it described as numerous security shortcomings at the clinic. Many of the problems existed months after the attack on Panitch, inspectors said.

After her death, the county appropriated an additional $250,000 for security measures. But county and clinic officials could not be reached for comment Friday on what safety programs have been implemented or equipment installed since last February.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Edward T. Fogel confirmed Friday that his office is looking into the case.

“We’ll be reviewing the (case) for what action, if any, that may be appropriate,” Fogel said.