Originally Posted by dEHmom:
I don't know if any of you would recognize the name "Vince Li". 4 yrs ago he beheaded a guy on a bus and it was because he was off his meds. He's been in the mental hospital, literally a 5 min walk from my house, since. They granted him supervised walks around the town now! They said he is doing really well etc. My opinion is if he's well enough now to walk around, he is well enough to go to jail, but that is neither here nor there.
A lot of people are upset over this, as he is going to be walked with 1 security officer and 1 nurse. If he can decapitate a young man on a bus that was full of people, I don't see how 2 people watching him walk through town is going to be safe.
Anyway, my parents have expressed concern that their children may be outside while the walks are happening. I'm concerned about my income, not so much the supervised walks. Whenever the alarm goes off, someone has escaped, we have to head indoors, lock the doors/windows and do "shelter in place". We have to wait there for xx mins and then phone the police to see if they've found the person yet. We are a straight path from the hospital to the bus stop at the end of my street, which is generally where they catch the people that did escape. 95% of escapees are harmless, mostly talking to themselves type of people, but there are a few people who have escaped that could be dangerous. For the most part they don't walk directly past my house, but walk down one of the streets near us.
I've left a message at the hospital for the CEO to contact me, maybe give me an idea of the times he will be walking, so we can stay indoors. Or request some sort of schedule, or phone call to alert us. I feel horrible having to do this, but I need to be able to offer my families some comfort.
Anyone have any experience with being close to a hospital or jail? How do your families take it? Do they get used to it? Pull out?
Li was actually granted outdoor walks around the perimeter of Mental Health Centre in June 2010. It's extremely easy to escape the compound - as a matter of fact, he was patient there in 2006 and escaped and made his way to BC! So really, those who are suddenly concerned they are in danger should have been concerned long before now. The reality with people like Li is if they want to escape, they will find a way... walking around the compound or in town - and letting something like that control your life is completely unrealistic.
The liklihood of Li getting out and hurting one of your daycare kids is pretty unlikely. It's more likely that you or one of your DCPs is living in close proximity to a much more dangerous kind of person.... a pedophile!
I doubt the hospital will let you know when he's out for walks... the security guard with Li is more for his protection than the public's. They wouldn't tip someone off when and where to find him... they're well aware that the public isn't handling this issue very well.
Best of luck.