a middle-aged man (early 50s) was waiting for a psych evaluation at a local hospital. he did some vandalism, he's now in jail.

first off, it doesn't say what kind or how much vandalism. there is a difference between tossing a chair, box of tissues or seriously trashing & destroying equipment & placing staff at risk.

we (, health care, law enforcement, everyone) want this man to be safe. safety..so obviously if he can not be safe in a hospital environment due to the vandalism (and again we don't know the level) then perhaps a jail cell might be the best option. again safety for ALL. the jail might have psychiatric services you don't know. it might be a jail ward, you don't know.

yes psychiatric services suck, not debating that here. just stating that safety for all is the issue. if someone walked into a store, or even the ED without psych issues and did vandalism he (or she) would face the same consequences..actually probably worse..given the known history of a needed evaluation chances are he will receive better treatment down the road. he will get that exam, and it will be factored into his case.