In the middle of Indianapolis, Eskenazi Health is supposed to be where vulnerable residents go to get help. Instead, a new investigation shows its in-house police force arrested more than 800 people between 2020 and 2025, and critics say that looks a lot like a pipeline straight from hospital bed to jail cell.
The reporting focuses on one woman in particular: Adilah Patton, who has schizophrenia. Her long trail of arrests at Eskenazi has become a case study in what happens when hospital security and law enforcement step in where treatment and long-term care fall short.
Mirror Indy reviewed arrest logs and court records and found Eskenazi officers made more than 800 arrests over that five-year window, which works out to roughly one arrest every two to three days. Many of the incidents involved homelessness, trespassing and behavior that reporters linked to mental illness, according to the outlet.
Most arrests were for misdemeanors, records show
Digging into the numbers, about 77% of arrests were for nonviolent misdemeanors such as disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and resisting law enforcement. A smaller portion involved allegations of battery against hospital police or attacks on medical staff…