Saving American Lives
Hopefully we can all agree that saving American lives must be our top priority, and that God calls on each of us to do our part to save lives and at the same time to defend the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, our liberty and freedoms, our right to free and fair democratic elections, and our way of life so that America remains strong past this national emergency.
Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
As this urgent and widely spreading health threat continues to develop and already over 120,000 American lives have been lost, we all share responsibility for mitigation of this virus. Please stay informed about the best practices for protecting yourself, your family, our communities and our nation--and the world.
For more information, please visit:
The Center for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
The White House: www.whitehouse.gov
The Department of Homeland Security: www.dhs.gov
The Department of Health and Human Services: www.hhs.gov
The American Medical Association: www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/covid-19-2019-novel-coronavirus-resource-center-physicians
The World Health Organization: www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
For more information, please visit:
The Center for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
The White House: www.whitehouse.gov
The Department of Homeland Security: www.dhs.gov
The Department of Health and Human Services: www.hhs.gov
The American Medical Association: www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/covid-19-2019-novel-coronavirus-resource-center-physicians
The World Health Organization: www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
BLACK LIVES MATTER
According to The Washington Post, "Since The Post began tracking [police] shootings, black people have been shot and killed by police at disproportionate rates -- both in terms of overall shootings and the shootings of unarmed Americans. The number of black and unarmed people fatally shot by police has declined since 2015, but whether armed or not, black people are still shot and killed at a disproportionately higher rate than white people.
In addition, the Post reports, "[s]ome of the most incendiary moments in recent years involving police and race occurred without a gunshot.
Eric Garner was videotaped pleading for air with a New York police officer's arm around his neck before his death in 2014. Freddie Gray died of a severe spinal injury in Baltimore the following year, suffered when he was transported in a police van wearing shackles but not a seat belt.
The outrage now rippling aross American began when a video from Minneapolis showed George Floyd, hands cuffed behind his back and prone on the ground, gasping 'I con't breathe' as a white police officer drove his knee into the black man's neck. The officer held it there for nearly nine minutes, prosecutors say. For almost three of those minutes, Floyd was not responsive, they said.
It was the kind of use-of-force incident that might have gone otherwise unnoticed. Minneapolis police initially reported that Floyd 'physically resisted officers' and then 'appeared to be suffering medical distress. No weapons of any kind were used, police added.
Then the video footage emerged. It showed Floyd pinned on the street, begging for air, calling for his mother, for minute after minute. He was pronounced dead not long after. The officer and three others with him at the scene were fired, and all face criminal charges."
As the work of Mapping Police Violence shows, these are just a few of way too many American lives lost. We must all take action and work together to save American lives and protect black Americans from police brutality. As The National Network for Safe Communities teaches, we are all safer when we work together and we are responsible for changing policies that put people of color -- and all Americans -- at risk.
Eric Garner was videotaped pleading for air with a New York police officer's arm around his neck before his death in 2014. Freddie Gray died of a severe spinal injury in Baltimore the following year, suffered when he was transported in a police van wearing shackles but not a seat belt.
The outrage now rippling aross American began when a video from Minneapolis showed George Floyd, hands cuffed behind his back and prone on the ground, gasping 'I con't breathe' as a white police officer drove his knee into the black man's neck. The officer held it there for nearly nine minutes, prosecutors say. For almost three of those minutes, Floyd was not responsive, they said.
It was the kind of use-of-force incident that might have gone otherwise unnoticed. Minneapolis police initially reported that Floyd 'physically resisted officers' and then 'appeared to be suffering medical distress. No weapons of any kind were used, police added.
Then the video footage emerged. It showed Floyd pinned on the street, begging for air, calling for his mother, for minute after minute. He was pronounced dead not long after. The officer and three others with him at the scene were fired, and all face criminal charges."
As the work of Mapping Police Violence shows, these are just a few of way too many American lives lost. We must all take action and work together to save American lives and protect black Americans from police brutality. As The National Network for Safe Communities teaches, we are all safer when we work together and we are responsible for changing policies that put people of color -- and all Americans -- at risk.
OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY
According to FBI reporting, "89 law enforcement officers were killed in line-of-duty incidents in 2019. Of these, 48 officers died as a result of felonious acts, and 41 officers died in accidents. Comprehensive [information is] ... included in Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2019....
The 48 felonious deaths occurred in 19 states and in Puerto Rico. The number of officers killed as a result of criminal acts in 2019 was 8 less than the 56 officers who were feloniously killed in 2018. The 5- and 10-year comparisons who an increase of 7 felonious deaths compared with 2015 (41 officers) and a decrease of 7 deaths compared with 2010 data (55 officers).
Officer Profiles. The average age of the officers who were feloniously killed was 40 years old. The victim officers had served in law enforcement for an average of 13 years at the time of the fatal incidents. Of the 48 officers: 45 were male, 3 were female, 40 were white, 7 were black/African American, 1 was Asian....
Regions. Felonious deaths were reported in four U.S. Regions and Puerto Rico[:] 27 officers were feloniously killed in the South, 9 in the Midwest, 9 in the West, 1 in the Northeast, 2 in Puerto Rico."
Every day our goodhearted community policing professionals put their lives on the line and work diligently to serve and protect us and our communities. As the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund reflects, way too many have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Our law enforcement officers deserve our respect and appreciation, and we can assist them by expanding the scope of our civil rights movement to build a culture of encouraging people to follow the law. Let's work together with The National Network for Safe Communities to improve safety for our law enforcement officers and our communities.
The 48 felonious deaths occurred in 19 states and in Puerto Rico. The number of officers killed as a result of criminal acts in 2019 was 8 less than the 56 officers who were feloniously killed in 2018. The 5- and 10-year comparisons who an increase of 7 felonious deaths compared with 2015 (41 officers) and a decrease of 7 deaths compared with 2010 data (55 officers).
Officer Profiles. The average age of the officers who were feloniously killed was 40 years old. The victim officers had served in law enforcement for an average of 13 years at the time of the fatal incidents. Of the 48 officers: 45 were male, 3 were female, 40 were white, 7 were black/African American, 1 was Asian....
Regions. Felonious deaths were reported in four U.S. Regions and Puerto Rico[:] 27 officers were feloniously killed in the South, 9 in the Midwest, 9 in the West, 1 in the Northeast, 2 in Puerto Rico."
Every day our goodhearted community policing professionals put their lives on the line and work diligently to serve and protect us and our communities. As the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund reflects, way too many have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Our law enforcement officers deserve our respect and appreciation, and we can assist them by expanding the scope of our civil rights movement to build a culture of encouraging people to follow the law. Let's work together with The National Network for Safe Communities to improve safety for our law enforcement officers and our communities.
Drug Overdose Deaths
In 2016, we lost over 64,000 American lives to drug overdose deaths. In 2017, we lost over 72,000 American lives to drug overdoses--more than the number of service members we lost in the Vietnam War and the two Iraq Wars combined. Reportedly, the numbers went down by 4% across our nation in 2018, but we still lost almost 70,000 Americans last year.
As illegal drugs continue to pour through our southern border.... As fentanyl continues to be shipped from Chinese labs across our borders and through the U.S. Mail.... As pharmaceutical companies, doctors and pharmacies continue to profit from deadly opioid prescriptions.... We are essentially fighting chemical warfare on our home turf.
Let's work together and listen to each other. Let's respect our fellow Americans--even those suffering from addiction. Let's find solutions to save American lives.
As illegal drugs continue to pour through our southern border.... As fentanyl continues to be shipped from Chinese labs across our borders and through the U.S. Mail.... As pharmaceutical companies, doctors and pharmacies continue to profit from deadly opioid prescriptions.... We are essentially fighting chemical warfare on our home turf.
Let's work together and listen to each other. Let's respect our fellow Americans--even those suffering from addiction. Let's find solutions to save American lives.
Triplicate Prescription Program States
According to a November 2019 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), opioid overdose deaths were 44% lower from 1996 to 2017 in states that required doctors to use triplicate prescription programs.
"Triplicates were a rudimentary type of prescription-drug-monitoring program, in which doctors were required to use a special type of pad to prescribe controlled substances, and provide a copy of the prescription to a state monitoring agency. Physicians found these forms a hassle to use, and they were therefore reluctant to prescribe the drugs that required the use of triplicates," according to recent news coverage of the NBER report (The True Cause of the Opioid Epidemic by Olga Khazan in The Atlantic, January 2, 2020).
Comparing the marketing of OxyCotin by Purdue Pharma, the NBER report found that "OxyCotin distribution was about 50% lower in 'triplicate states' in the years after the launch" of OxyCotin. "While triplicate states had higher rates of overdose deaths prior to 1996, this relationship flipped shortly after the launch and triplicate states saw substantially slower growth in overdose deaths, continuing even twenty years after OxyCotin's introduction. Our results show that the introduction and marketing of OxyCotin explain a substantial share of overdose deaths over the last two decades." (Origins of the Opioid Crisis and Its Enduring Impacts by Abby E. Alpert, et al, NBER Working Paper No. 26500, November 2019).
"Triplicates were a rudimentary type of prescription-drug-monitoring program, in which doctors were required to use a special type of pad to prescribe controlled substances, and provide a copy of the prescription to a state monitoring agency. Physicians found these forms a hassle to use, and they were therefore reluctant to prescribe the drugs that required the use of triplicates," according to recent news coverage of the NBER report (The True Cause of the Opioid Epidemic by Olga Khazan in The Atlantic, January 2, 2020).
Comparing the marketing of OxyCotin by Purdue Pharma, the NBER report found that "OxyCotin distribution was about 50% lower in 'triplicate states' in the years after the launch" of OxyCotin. "While triplicate states had higher rates of overdose deaths prior to 1996, this relationship flipped shortly after the launch and triplicate states saw substantially slower growth in overdose deaths, continuing even twenty years after OxyCotin's introduction. Our results show that the introduction and marketing of OxyCotin explain a substantial share of overdose deaths over the last two decades." (Origins of the Opioid Crisis and Its Enduring Impacts by Abby E. Alpert, et al, NBER Working Paper No. 26500, November 2019).
The "Don't Shoot" & Drug Market Intervention Strategies
For over 7 years, Mosie Boyd has been working to bring community leaders together to focus on saving American lives by implementing the "Don't Shoot" & Drug Market Intervention strategies. In 2012, she presented these ideas to the annual conference of the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police.
Designed by David Kennedy in partnership with dedicated law enforcement teams around the country, these strategies use data driven analysis to determine exactly where community crime problems exist. They identify the specific individuals at the highest risk of committing another crime. Then they invite these individuals into a "call-in" to discuss their options for (1) working together with law enforcement, supportive community service providers and faith leaders to turn their lives around--or, in the alternative, (2) going back to prison. The key idea is to hold individuals personally accountable, and it works.
Those individuals who are willing to accept help often receive assistance with day care for their children, employment, family assistance, housing, job training, parenting skills, substance abuse treatment and transportation. Community support providers get to know these individuals personally and mentor them into success. Most participants learn how to become law-abiding citizens, so recidivism rates are very low.
The national model program is High Point, North Carolina. Over 20 years, they have seen a sustained 47% drop in their violent crime index while the population has almost doubled.
Designed by David Kennedy in partnership with dedicated law enforcement teams around the country, these strategies use data driven analysis to determine exactly where community crime problems exist. They identify the specific individuals at the highest risk of committing another crime. Then they invite these individuals into a "call-in" to discuss their options for (1) working together with law enforcement, supportive community service providers and faith leaders to turn their lives around--or, in the alternative, (2) going back to prison. The key idea is to hold individuals personally accountable, and it works.
Those individuals who are willing to accept help often receive assistance with day care for their children, employment, family assistance, housing, job training, parenting skills, substance abuse treatment and transportation. Community support providers get to know these individuals personally and mentor them into success. Most participants learn how to become law-abiding citizens, so recidivism rates are very low.
The national model program is High Point, North Carolina. Over 20 years, they have seen a sustained 47% drop in their violent crime index while the population has almost doubled.
Applying These Strategies to Gun Violence
Mosie Boyd believes that the "Don't Shoot" & Drug Market Intervention strategies can and should be used to help reduce gun violence and school shootings. Far too often, we learn after a deadly shooting that obvious signs existed to indicate that the shooter was in crisis and needed help. But the warning signs--the calls for help--were ignored or overlooked until too late.
Using the "Don't Shoot" & Drug Market Intervention strategies as a model, we must develop similar strategies for determining the communities (especially online communities) where active shooter behavior is encouraged. Keeping this information in mind, we all need to work together to identify the specific individuals at risk of committing active shooter crimes or suicide. Then trained professionals must invite these individuals into "call-ins" to discuss their options for working with trained mental health care providers, supportive community service providers and faith leaders to turn their lives around--while there's still time to save their own lives as well as the lives of others. Again, we need to hold individuals personally accountable for their behavior--and find effective ways to support them instead of leaving them alone in isolation during a mental health crisis.
In Arkansas, a grandmother found the courage to report her grandson to law enforcement after she learned that he had weapons and planned a school shooting. This grandmother saved her grandson as well as multiple potential victims.
Again, we are fighting gun violence on our home turf. As individual members of our American family, we all have a role to play in identifying our fellow Americans who are in crisis and initiating steps to help them receive support to find alternative solutions. As patriotic Americans, we all have a duty to help save American lives.
Using the "Don't Shoot" & Drug Market Intervention strategies as a model, we must develop similar strategies for determining the communities (especially online communities) where active shooter behavior is encouraged. Keeping this information in mind, we all need to work together to identify the specific individuals at risk of committing active shooter crimes or suicide. Then trained professionals must invite these individuals into "call-ins" to discuss their options for working with trained mental health care providers, supportive community service providers and faith leaders to turn their lives around--while there's still time to save their own lives as well as the lives of others. Again, we need to hold individuals personally accountable for their behavior--and find effective ways to support them instead of leaving them alone in isolation during a mental health crisis.
In Arkansas, a grandmother found the courage to report her grandson to law enforcement after she learned that he had weapons and planned a school shooting. This grandmother saved her grandson as well as multiple potential victims.
Again, we are fighting gun violence on our home turf. As individual members of our American family, we all have a role to play in identifying our fellow Americans who are in crisis and initiating steps to help them receive support to find alternative solutions. As patriotic Americans, we all have a duty to help save American lives.
School Tip Lines Stop Shootings & Suicides
"At least 10 states now run school safety tip lines - Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wyoming - and an anonymous reporting system is also available to districts nationwide from Sandy Hook Promise...," according to a NBC News recent report online at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/school-tip-lines-were-meant-stop-shootings-uncovered-teen-suicide-n1127876.
Studies consistently show that exposure to electronic screen time produces feelings of isolation and loneliness in all of us. Online bullying is one risk. Comparing ourselves to celebrities, models, advertising and other people's best online lives commonly produces feelings of inadequacy. We also need to keep in mind that our nation's enemies frequently use tactics known as "psychological operations" or PSY-OPS to subtly erode our peace of mind and sense of well being. Some also work to incite violence and groom vulnerable individuals to act out violently. Often these individuals show signs of agitation and calls for help.
As a nation, we need to work together to keep our communities safe. When someone you know needs help, reach out to them or contact a tip line or local law enforcement to suggest they need help. You might save their life. At the very least, keep in mind that "When you see something, say something" saves lives. For more information, visit https://www.dhs.gov/see-something-say-something.
Studies consistently show that exposure to electronic screen time produces feelings of isolation and loneliness in all of us. Online bullying is one risk. Comparing ourselves to celebrities, models, advertising and other people's best online lives commonly produces feelings of inadequacy. We also need to keep in mind that our nation's enemies frequently use tactics known as "psychological operations" or PSY-OPS to subtly erode our peace of mind and sense of well being. Some also work to incite violence and groom vulnerable individuals to act out violently. Often these individuals show signs of agitation and calls for help.
As a nation, we need to work together to keep our communities safe. When someone you know needs help, reach out to them or contact a tip line or local law enforcement to suggest they need help. You might save their life. At the very least, keep in mind that "When you see something, say something" saves lives. For more information, visit https://www.dhs.gov/see-something-say-something.
