In 1996, a small group of local activists -- most of whom had relatives in the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington -- began to complain about patient care at the Rockville facility.
They complained about nursing mismanagement; worried about retaliation against their relatives on the basis of complaints; and pointed to "loss of dignity" issues.
In 1997, officials at the home, according to a statement provided to us last week, "became seriously alarmed about [the group's tactics], which we believed posed a danger to our facility, residents and staff. These individuals were threatening staff, interfering with care and putting the health and well-being of our elderly residents at risk."
What were those threats? How were residents put at risk? Officials didn't give us a chance to ask those questions. The home simply stated that it had hired a "highly recommended" security firm, Beckett Brown International, certainly a reasonable response to threats.
Yet, shockingly, that firm, according to documents from a former investor -- as first reported by The Washington Post and detailed in WJW this week -- didn't simply provide security services. It spied on the activists.
BBI infiltrated the activist group and in the course of nearly two years, provided Hebrew Home officials with reports on the group's meetings, along with such information as license plates numbers, telephone logs, descriptions of the activists and one activist's social security number.
The Hebrew Home denies knowledge of any unethical activity that may have been undertaken by Beckett Brown.
Given, however, the invoices for thousands of dollars that went to CEO Warren Slavin, it's difficult to believe that officials didn't know about -- and approve of -- the spying that was taking place.
Taking care of our elderly is a Jewish imperative. Spying on those worried about their care, however, is stunningly wrong. Stating, as the home did, that this is an "incident long in the past" is disingenuous. The community deserves answers on why the Hebrew Home -- a respected and vitally important facility in our community -- felt a need to hire BBI to go beyond providing security into the realm of espionage.
And, those who were subject to that BBI spying deserve an immediate apology.
