Leadership Vigilance Collaboration
Black history month must be more than a remembrance of events, people and their descendants throughout the world. It must be a celebration of the dignity of each human life and a renewed commitment to freedom as a God-given right.
And how do we understand human freedom? According to John Paul II, one of this centuries most admired advocates of human dignity, freedom must be realized through truth and put into practice through the living of a virtuous life, understood throughout the ages as the so-called cardinal virtues:
As America concludes the celebration of black history month, we must remain dedicated to the principle of freedom that is immortalized in the Declaration of Independence and we must ensure that it is seared into the recesses of our hearts:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
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Labels: Civil Rights, Diversity
posted by Vincent J. Bove, CPP at 10:27 AM 0 comments
The event was made possible through the leadership of Lt. Patrick Fay, President of the North Jersey Regional Crime Prevention Officers Association, and Sheriff Leo P. McGuire of the Bergen County Sheriff's Department. There were over 70 attendees at the state of the art auditorium of the Bergen County Jail representing:
Detective Canal's presentation covered
The allurement of the gang culture, which leads to disillusionment, disconnectedness and often death, can be a powerful one for today's youth. The best antidote is the cultivation of a strong support system through family, school and community partnerships.
One organization that is dedicated to keeping America safe is FIGHT CRIME: Invest in Kids, which is led by more than 3,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, law enforcement leaders, and violence survivors dedicated to preventing crime and violence. Understanding that this effort must involve all levels of government, education, community and family, FIGHT CRIME states that
America must cut the pipeline that funnels young people into lives of crime and violence. We take a hard-nosed look at research on what keeps kids from becoming criminals and put that information in the hands of policy-makers and the public.
[Reprinted from FIGHT CRIME: Invest in Kids website – www.fightcrime.org]
From America’s Front Line Against Crime: A School and Youth Violence Prevention Plan
As an organization of more than 3,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, other law enforcement leaders, and violence survivors, we are determined to see that dangerous criminals are put behind bars. But anyone who thinks that jailing a criminal undoes the agony of crime has not seen crime up close.
America’s anti-crime arsenal contains no weapons more powerful than the proven programs that help kids get the right start in life—programs like Head Start, pre-kindergarten and educational child care, child abuse and neglect prevention, youth development activities for the after-school and summer hours, and intervention programs proven to help troubled kids. Yet today, inadequate funding for these critical investments leaves millions of children at needless risk of becoming violent or delinquent teens and adult criminals—and leaves every American at risk of becoming a crime victim.
We call on all federal, state and local officials to implement a four-part plan to dramatically reduce crime and violence, and help young people learn the skills and values they need to become good neighbors and responsible adults. No plan can prevent every violent act. But this common-sense plan-based on our experience and the latest research about what really works to fight crime — can make all of us safer.
Four Steps to Dramatically Reduce School and Youth Violence
The Bottom Line: Investing in Kids Saves Lives and Money
When our country fails to invest in children, all Americans pay far more later—not just in lost lives, but also in tax dollars. The federal treasury will actually have more money to dedicate to other uses in the future—whether for Social Security or tax cuts—by investing today in programs to help kids get the right start in life. Research clearly demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of these programs.
[Click here to read the full text of the plan.]
Labels: Collaborative Policing, Community Policing, Events, Gangs
posted by Vincent J. Bove, CPP at 11:36 AM 0 comments
As the details of the troubled past of the Northern Illinois University shooter continue to unravel, we are reminded that the personality within can be a stark contrast to our perceptions of an individual.
In a press conference after the tragedy, Campus Police Chief Donald Grady acknowledged that the killer had a history of mental illness, had stopped taking his medication and his behavior had become erratic over the last two weeks. Grady also stated that the killer "was revered by the faculty and staff and students alike," and that the behavior of the past two weeks could not have been indicative of the violence that was perpetrated.
Following is some of the key information revealed over the past several days:
As details of his life continue to surface, we must understand that academic standards are only one element of a person. Character, social aptitude, mental stability and emotional intelligence are also essential to truly understanding a person.
Compassion and guidance are needed to see beyond the surface and reach out to those in need of our support.
[Reprinted from Associated Press on Google – ap.google.com]
Gunman's Contradictions Confound Police By Ashley M. Heher and Caryn Rousseau
DEKALB, Ill. (AP) – Steven Kazmierczak had the look of a boyish graduate student — except for the disturbing tattoos that covered his arms. Professors and students knew him as a bright, helpful scholar, but his past included a stint in a mental health center.
Many saw him as happy and stable, but he had developed a recent interest in guns and was involved in a troubled — possibly abusive — on-again, off-again relationship.
What people initially told police about the Northern Illinois University shooter didn't add up, and now investigators are searching for answers to what triggered Thursday's bloody attack, in which five students were killed and several more injured before Kazmierczak committed suicide.
While searching for a motive, authorities questioned family and friends and tried to determine whether he had recently broken up with his longtime girlfriend.
One person who knew the couple, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said the couple's relationship was on-again, off-again and "really rocky." Kazmierczak was controlling, she said.
"He was abusive, had a temper," she said. "He didn't actually hit her; he would push her around."
The 27-year-old Kazmierczak also had a history of mental illness and had become erratic in the past two weeks after he stopped taking his medication, said university Police Chief Donald Grady.
A former employee at a Chicago psychiatric treatment center said Kazmierczak had been placed there after high school by his parents. He used to cut himself and had resisted taking his medications, she said.
Kazmierczak spent more than a year at the Thresholds-Mary Hill House in the late 1990s, former house manager Louise Gbadamashi told The Associated Press. His parents placed him there after high school because he had become "unruly" at home, she said.
Gbadamashi couldn't remember any instances of him being violent, she said.
"He never wanted to identify with being mentally ill," she said. "That was part of the problem."
Jason Dunavan, a tattoo artist in Champaign, said he spent hours as recently as last month creating tattoos for Kazmierczak. His work included an image of the macabre doll from the horror movie "Saw" riding a tricycle through a pool of blood with images of several bleeding cuts in the background.
Dunavan said he was so proud of the tattoo that he enlarged a photo of it and placed it on a wall in his shop — a move he is now rethinking.
"I don't know if I still want that picture on my wall," said Dunavan, who also described Kazmierczak as timid and apologetic.
"He was really, really mousy."
On Friday, police went through belongings Kazmierczak left at a DeKalb motel in search of clues.
Kazmierczak paid cash for his room at the Travelodge three days before the shootings, signing his name only as "Steven" on a slip of paper, according to the hotel manager. Items later found in his room included empty cartons of cigarettes and discarded containers of energy drinks and cold medicine. The refrigerator was stocked with more energy drinks.
Authorities found a duffel bag, with the zippers glued shut, that Kazmierczak had left in the room, said Lt. Gary Spangler of the DeKalb Police Department. A bomb squad safely opened the bag Friday, Spangler said.
He would not comment on what was found in the bag. The Chicago Tribune, citing law enforcement sources, reported that investigators found ammunition inside.
Kazmierczak also left behind a laptop computer, which was seized by investigators, said Jay Patel, manager at the Travelodge.
The discoveries added to the puzzles surrounding Kazmierczak, a graduate student who had once studied at Northern Illinois University but transferred to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
He also had a short-lived stint as a prison guard that ended abruptly when he didn't show up for work. He was in the Army for about six months in 2001-02, but he told a friend he'd gotten a psychological discharge.
Those who knew him were baffled by the attacks, in which Kazmierczak stepped from behind a screen on the lecture hall's stage and opened fire on a geology class.
Jim Thomas, an emeritus professor of sociology and criminology at NIU who taught Kazmierczak, insisted there was no indication of trouble between Kazmierczak and his girlfriend.
"I do know they loved each other very much," Thomas said. "He felt extremely close to her. ... To my knowledge, I saw no indication of abuse."
Kazmierczak's godfather, Richard Grafer, said Saturday that his godson was in good spirits when they spoke Tuesday about playing chess sometime soon.
Kazmierczak told his godfather he would call him again Saturday. "He seemed fine, great. We were laughing and talking and telling jokes," said Grafer, who added that he knew nothing about Kazmierczak being on or off medication.
Kristen Myers, an associate professor of sociology who knew Kazmierczak, also said he didn't fit the image of a loner or outcast.
"Profiling would not have worked with Steve. People would let him into their home," she said. "People feel so bad that we didn't know he was suffering like this."
On Feb. 9, Kazmierczak walked into a Champaign gun store and picked up two guns — a Remington shotgun and a Glock 9mm handgun. He bought the two other handguns at the same shop — a Hi-Point .380 on Dec. 30 and a Sig Sauer on Aug. 6.
All four guns were bought legally from a federally licensed firearms dealer, said Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. At least one criminal background check was performed — Kazmierczak had no criminal record.
Kazmierczak had a state police-issued FOID, a firearms owners identification card, which is required in Illinois to own a gun, authorities said. Such cards are rarely issued to those with recent mental health problems. And since Kazmierczak's stay in the mental health center was more than five years ago, it didn't raise red flags.
NIU President John Peters said Kazmierczak compiled "a very good academic record, no record of trouble" at the 25,000-student campus in DeKalb. He won at least two awards and served as an officer in two student groups dedicated to promoting understanding of the criminal justice system.
Seven people remained hospitalized Saturday after the attack, with three in serious condition, one of them upgraded from critical. The other four are in fair condition.
Officials at NIU said classes will resume on Feb. 25, though Cole Hall — where the shootings happened — will remained closed until the end of the semester.
Peters promised a strong police presence and ample counseling for students and instructors.
"We need to take care of ourselves and each other, reaching out to those of us who are struggling," Peters said in a statement.
"An act of violence does not define us."
Labels: Campus Security, Mental Health, School Violence
posted by Vincent J. Bove, CPP at 8:19 AM 0 comments
In an age of scandal and corruption, of political pettiness and bickering, of a crisis of ethics and character, let us take a moment on this President's Day to reflect upon the lives and service to country of two of America's greatest presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
And let us commit ourselves, as citizens of the United States of America, to remember our roots and to do all within our power to restore selfless leadership to our great nation.
[Reprinted from the White House website – www.whitehouse.gov]
George Washington
On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison, "it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles."
Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman.
He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.
From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions.
When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years.
He realized early that the best strategy was to harass the British. He reported to Congress, "we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies--he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President
He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became preponderantly a Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.
To his disappointment, two parties were developing by the end of his first term. Wearied of politics, feeling old, he retired at the end of his second. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear excessive party spirit and geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he warned against long-term alliances.
Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him.
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln warned the South in his Inaugural Address: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it."
Lincoln thought secession illegal, and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy but four remained within the Union. The Civil War had begun.
The son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Lincoln had to struggle for a living and for learning. Five months before receiving his party's nomination for President, he sketched his life:
"I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all."
Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years. His law partner said of him, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest."
He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.
As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.
Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. In his planning for peace, the President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion.
The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds.... "
On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln's death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity died.
Labels: Leadership, Patriotism
posted by Vincent J. Bove, CPP at 9:53 AM 0 comments
[Reprinted from the FBI website—www.fbi.gov]
Internet Alert: St. Valentine’s Day E-Card CarriesStorm Worm Virus
If you unexpectedly receive a Valentine’s Day e-card, be careful. It may not be from a secret admirer, but instead might contain the Storm Worm virus.
With the holiday approaching, be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware). The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to retrieve the electronic greeting card (e-card). Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the Internet-connected device and causes it to become infected and part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised machines under the control of a single user. Botnets are typically set up to facilitate criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft, denial of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the Internet.
The Storm Worm virus has capitalized on various holidays in the last year by sending millions of e-mails advertising an e-card link within the text of the spam e-mail. Valentine's Day has been identified as the next target.
Be wary of any e-mail received from an unknown sender. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and do not click on any links provided.
To receive the latest information about cyber scams please go to the FBI website and sign up for e-mail alerts by clicking on one of the red envelopes. If you have received a scam e-mail, please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at www.ic3.gov . For more information on e-scams, please visit the FBI's New E-Scams and Warnings webpage.
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Labels: FBI, Internet Safety
posted by Vincent J. Bove, CPP at 12:21 PM 0 comments
Jonathan A. Duecker, Assistant Commissioner for Counterterrorism for the New York City Police Department was the speaker for the event. The focus of the day was the criticality of remaining vigilant due to the continual possibility of a terrorist attack against the United States, particularly New York City.
In a world where the threat of terrorist attacks continue, this event highlighted some key points:
[From the ASIS International NYC website—www.asisnyc.org]
Jonathan A. Duecker Assistant Commissioner for Counterterrorism New York City Police Department
Assistant Commissioner Jonathan Duecker graduated from the United States Naval Academy and was commissioned an Ensign in the US Navy in 1986. After attending Navy flight school at Pensacola, FL, he was assigned to the EA-6B “Prowler” tactical electronic warfare community and flew electronic countermeasures missions from several fleet aircraft carriers. After 7 years of active duty, he joined the Naval Reserve as an Intelligence Officer performing counterdrug, counterintelligence, and counterterrorism intelligence analysis.
Assistant Commissioner Duecker attended the University of Wisconsin Law School where he received his Juris Doctor; he was admitted to the Wisconsin Bar in 1995. He then attended the US Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Basic Agent Training at Quantico, VA, and was ultimately assigned as a Special Agent to the DEA’s Philadelphia Field Division.
Immediately after September 11, 2001, Assistant Commissioner Duecker was assigned by the DEA to the Philadelphia FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Subsequently, he was mobilized to active duty to the Joint Intelligence Task Force – Combating Terrorism at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) providing counterterrorism intelligence analysis and production in support of Operations Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom. While at DIA, Assistant Commissioner Duecker was responsible for creating the Homeland Defense Division, which monitors the transnational terrorist threat to the continental US. He was also responsible for the creation of the Joint Regional Information Exchange System (JRIES), a revolutionary information sharing system between Counterterrorism Intelligence analysts at the Defense Intelligence Agency and local and state law enforcement agencies throughout the US. JRIES was ultimately adopted by the US Department of Homeland Security and renamed the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN).
Assistant Commissioner Duecker was demobilized at the end of 2002. In 2003, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security by Governor Edward Rendell, and in 2004, was elevated to Director. He served in that position until the end 2005. He was appointed by New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly to his current position in January, 2006.
Labels: Events, NYPD, Private Security, Terrorism
posted by Vincent J. Bove, CPP at 10:49 AM 0 comments
"inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more."
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty—power is ever stealing from the many to the few… The hand entrusted with power becomes … the necessary enemy of the people. Only by continual oversight can the democrat in office be prevented from hardening into a despot: only by unintermitted Agitation can a people be kept sufficiently awake to principle not to let liberty be smothered in material prosperity."
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." —Edmund Burke
