Gun Violence Empowered by Massive Police Layoffs: A Call for Moral Leadership

"Trenton gun violence empowered by mass police layoffs leaves 120 people shot in 6 months" as published by The Trenton Times on July 8, 2013 is a tragic commentary on the negative consequences of diminishing law enforcement resources for American communities.

Unfortunately, it highlights the concerns I presented at the request of the Jersey City Police Department, memorialized in a previous post and beckons a clarion call for moral leadership to government leaders:

Massive Police Layoffs: An Alarming Trend Endangering Public Safety in America-December 30, 2010 Blog

As a certified law enforcement instructor and national speaker, it has been a privilege to conduct presentations for law enforcement personnel of every conceivable rank and agency. It has also been my privilege to serve as a community policing/crime prevention instructor and advocate, assisting with the certification of law enforcement personnel. With these experiences, I have met countless men and women who serve our nation’s communities through their noble and necessary profession. Their service is integral not only to public safety but to the very morale of American society.

With this in mind, I have great concerns for public safety and for the safety of law enforcement personnel due to the continuous headlines of massive police layoffs. This is not the course that the communities of the greatest nation on the earth should take but this trend is tragically indicated as in these recent headlines:

• Newark finalizes 167 police layoffs…
  
• Passaic County Sheriff’s Department lays off 24
  
• Camden council approves layoffs of nearly half of police force
  
• Paterson considers cutting police force by 150 officers
  
• Jersey City Police Layoffs Part of Larger Cop Cuts Statewide
  
• East Orange to lay off dozens of police officers…
  
• Officers Uneasy As Police Layoffs Loom in Phoenix
  
• Brace yourself: Police layoffs could cost lives
  
• Layoffs to gut East St. Louis police force
  
• Police Layoffs in Michigan Fuels Public Safety Debate
  
• More police, fire layoffs coming in February
  
• Will thousands of Police Layoffs Unleash Chaos and Anarchy Across America
  
• New Jersey sees 15-percent spike in homicides over past year
  
• 4 Police Officers Shot Dead in Lakewood Coffeehouse Ambush
  
• Philadelphia Police Officer Killed On Duty
  
• Three police officers killed in Oakland shootings
  
• 5 Police Officers Shot in Jersey City: Follows Killings of Police in Philadelphia and Oakland
  
• Oakland Police layoffs mark the end of community policing

Parenthetically, a recent published report held this title: Police Fatalities jump 37 percent in 2010 with a sobering quote in the article,

“There is a more cold blooded brazen criminal element prowling the streets of America today.”

In my opinion, American cities (and the dedicated men and women of law enforcement) are in great danger when the critical mission of law enforcement is compromised by massive cutbacks. Questions must be answered such as where is the impact of a national stimulus plan when public safety is so tragically compromised? And how can the profoundly sound ideals of community policing and crime prevention continue when budgets streamline these units and personnel because of the requirements of patrol which influence reactive rather than proactive initiatives?

America must not allow its communities and honorable law enforcement profession to be victimized by this current trend of layoffs. There is a way to be financially sound without undermining what is critical to the very heart of our communities and the nation itself: public safety.

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Police fatalities jump 37 percent in 2010	Click here to visit site
Vincent Bove Community Policing Blogs	Click here to visit site

American Crisis: Chicago Violence Toll Includes Boys, 5 and 7

Tragic headlines continue to unfold as indicated in the July 5, 2013 Chicago Tribune:

"With the long Fourth of July weekend not even half over, the toll from violence in Chicago stood at 9 dead and at least 36 wounded today, including two little boys, 5 and 7, seriously hurt while at parks with their families.

"The victims since Wednesday afternoon also include a 14-year-old boy shot on the West Side, a 16-year-old boy wounded on the South Side and a cabbie shot in the stomach by a robber on the South Side.

"The youngest victim so far is 5-year-old Jaden Donald, who was shot in the abdomen and right leg while with his family at a party in Cooper Park on the Far South Side shortly after midnight.

"His mother, Jasmine Donald, stood outside Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn this morning in a gown, blood on her dress and shoes. She said she hadn't been at the park long when a young man started shooting."

As addressed in my previous blogs and October 6, 2009 registered letters to the President and Department of Justice the nation must rise with outrage to this senseless violence and respond with full force leadership:

Chicago Violence: An American Crisis-March 1, 2013 Blog

Chicago, our great American city continues making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Senseless recent tragedies include a 15 year old honor student killed on the streets who recently performed at President Obama's inauguration and a mother who just lost her fourth child to gun violence. This violence should outrage our nation from passivity to action.

Reprehensibly, the too little and too late response depicts not only a culture of violence but crisis of leadership. Are we doing everything possible to stop the carnage?

On October 6, 2009 I addressed this crisis with registered letters to President Obama, the U.S. Department of Justice and numerous officials throughout Illinois and Chicago. The response from the White House and Department of Justice was off the mark with generic style self serving letters from these highest levels of government. The head on collision of America's culture of violence and crisis of leadership that I have presented for many years continues with no end in sight.

Calling On President Obama Once Again to Commit Resources to Stop the Violence in Chicago-January 13, 2012 Blog

A 14-year-old boy was shot in the neck while walking to school in Chicago on January 12, 2012. One day earlier an 18-year-old was shot and killed. There is no end in sight to years of violence inflicting Chicago youth and hope is fading. I once again call upon President Obama to respond with full force leadership to this tragic epidemic. My initial request to the President on October 6, 2009 as documented here remains critical:

Vincent Bove Blog/Initiative Request Via Registered Letters to President Obama and the Department of Justice on October 6, 2009
When asked in an October 1, 2009 press briefing whether the President was going to address the Chicago violence concerns to the Olympic Committee, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs replied

"Obviously it's of great concern to the President, as somebody who lives in Chicago, but would and should be a concern for every American. This isn't a Chicago problem; this is violence -- youth violence is a problem throughout our country. The President is concerned and has asked that next Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder travel to Chicago. They'll meet with officials from the school, meet with students and meet with the community to talk about the issues of school violence and youth violence."

---

"Talking about the issues" is simply not enough. It is time for action; anything less is just more politically expedient rhetoric.

I call upon President and Mrs. Obama to establish a Stop the Violence Olympics for Chicago—nothing less than a full-force effort and allocation of resources equal to that of the effort and resources that would have been necessary to host the Olympics. If hosting the Olympics would have been worth the effort, then the saving of lives from senseless bloodshed is so much more worth it.

According to various published reports, over 500 students have been shot, more than 100 fatally, since 2006. Most recently, the beating death of 16-year-old Derrion Albert has captured the nation's attention.

AP Report 3 Charged in Beating Death of Chicago Student (1:28)

<a HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VwgGHrDdX0">Play the clip on YouTube</A>

These sobering statistics of violence and death in Chicago indicate a state of emergency and beckon an immediate collaborative response from every level of the government and community. The eyes of the nation must now turn to Chicago, not as a city preparing for the Olympic Games but as a city committed to transforming a culture of violence into one of opportunity and hope.

LETTER TO PRESIDENT AND MRS. OBAMA

October 6, 2009

President and Mrs. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President and Mrs. Obama,

Now that lobbying for hosting the 2016 Olympic Games is behind us, a more urgent task is at hand. It is time for an Olympian effort to end the bloodshed plaguing the communities of Chicago.

I implore you to make the elimination of violence in the windy city a top priority of your administration. If we agree that it would have been a worthwhile investment to prepare the city to host the 2016 Olympics, how much more is the value of human life? We must work to find a way to save lives, reduce hostility, and create a national model for the "audacity of hope" in all our urban areas suffering the scourge of senseless brutality.

So I propose that the White House declare a Stop the Violence Olympics for Chicago. As immediately as is possible, an organizing effort should be made on the same scale as would have been necessary to prepare the city for the Olympics. Resources from throughout government, private industry, and the local community must be brought together in a collaborative effort that will serve notice that violence will no longer be tolerated.

In addition, a torch should be lit in the city and remain burning as a reminder and symbol to all that we are serious about bringing change and hope to the affected Chicago communities.

President and Mrs. Obama, with the eyes of the nation and the world upon the devastation in Chicago, the time has come to stand with courage and certainty to answer the question "Can they stop the violence on the streets of Chicago?"

The only answer must be the same as the mantra of your Presidency—a resounding "YES WE CAN!"

Respectfully,

Vincent J.Bove

READ MORE

Beating Death Of Derrion Albert, 16, Caught On Video	Click here to visit site
508 Chicago Students Shot in 16 Months	Click here to visit site
2008 saw increased violence in Chicago, statistics show	Click here to visit site
CeaseFire The Campaign to STOP the Shooting	Click here to visit site
Google Search: Chicago Violence	Click here to visit site