VIDEO: Scene Security Poses Unique Problems for Law Enforcement

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – A violent crime scene can be chaotic and a place where emotions run high.

Officers secure that area and often times must go to the hospital to help with security.

It happened in Starkville on Thursday night, three times within two hours.

Three victims, brings three different groups of family and friends to the hospital.

Police and security want to make sure the patients are being treated quickly and everyone stays safe.

A lot of emotion pours out at crime scenes or when someone’s loved one has been injured.

That emotion from a crime scene can flow to the hospital where a victim was taken.

“One of the first stages of dealing with death is, you know, anger and denial, so we see that a lot and it gets very dangerous. Fortunately, our law enforcement here, are good about responding with us and are there for us and are also there for the victims and the victim’s family,” says Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt.

Police never know how someone will react to a tragic situation, and with the unknown, comes precautions.

“When that happens, you know, you’ve got two different groups of people that are coming into the hospital to see if they can see their loved one, or show their support for the family, but a lot of times, that ends up breaking into a, you know, fights and it’s very, very unsafe for our department, our emergency room,” says Hunt.

Law enforcement say OCH Regional Hospital has a very good, well trained security team and they work well together to make sure the patient and staff are safe, and family members are eventually able to see their loved one.

“They have their own security, so typically we’ll have an officer, if there’s an individual involved in a crime in the hospital. Yes, we’ll have an officer there, but any other response is going to be based off that officer’s observations or the hospital’s security’s observations,” says Starkville Police Public Information Officer Corporal Brandon Lovelady.

It’s all to ensure everyone’s safety.

“They’re not doing anything illegal by being out there, but they have to keep the peace, also,” says Lovelady.

Most hospitals do have trained security teams in place ready to respond to any incidents.

Due to all of the recent events, the Starkville Police Department is putting more officers out on the streets this weekend.