Help Thy Neighbor : Society must help those suffering from work stress, job losses and budget cuts

Last week, according to authorities, Willie Woods reached a breaking point. After receiving a series of verbal and written warnings for poor job performance in recent months, the Los Angeles city electrician calmly walked into Downtown’s C. Erwin Piper Technical Center with a semiautomatic handgun, police say. Woods now stands accused of methodically gunning down four of his supervisors at the center, where he had worked for 12 years.

As usual after violence of this sort, many are asking if tragedy could have been prevented. More security guards? Entryway metal sensors that would have detected the pistol? Did the city react appropriately to indications that Woods could become violent? It has been suggested that the suspect’s pattern of behavior over the last six months gave a strong foreshadowing of the murders. Woods, a radio repairman in the technical center’s communication division, began having serious problems with his supervisors early this year. On several occasions he is reported to have reacted violently to negative reviews, in one instance hurling a chair across the room as he was being counseled by one of the men killed this month.

Of course the City of Los Angeles is far from the only institution hit by workplace violence--witness the notorious events that have afflicted the U.S. Postal Service in the City of Commerce, Orange County and elsewhere across the nation. In recent days, home security has been beefed up for Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and county Chief Administrative Officer Sally Reed, who were threatened anonymously as the nearly bankrupt county considered budget cutbacks that might close health facilities and other vital agencies and leave thousands without jobs.

Many county workers, plus residents who will face restrictions in health care and other important services, will need help. Family members, friends, neighbors, churches, temples and mosques, fraternal groups, charities and, yes, government must be prepared to provide counseling, comfort, emotional support and whatever financial help can be mustered.