Collaborative Policing: Countering America's Culture of Violence

America must not become desensitized to the scourge of violence traumatizing communities. Each human life is sacred and deserving of dignity, liberty, and security. America must protect and serve each and every person.

Understanding and implementing collaborative policing is critical to countering America’s culture of violence and securing the nation.

Coast-to-Coast Violence
Below is a partial list of the violence gripping the nation over the last few years. It paints a disturbing picture of the lack of sanctuary anywhere.

June 11, 2014—A Roman Catholic priest is shot to death and another critically wounded in an attack at a Phoenix church. The killer was apprehended and charged with first-degree murder, burglary, and armed robbery, among other charges.

June 8, 2014—Two on-duty Las Vegas police officers are killed in cold blood while sitting in a pizza shop on their lunch break. Another man was also shot to death while trying to stop the carnage. According to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation, 63 officers have died on the job in 2014—a rise of 40 percent from last year. In Chicago, published reports on the same day (June 8) stated over 30 people were shot over the weekend, four of them fatally.

April 2, 2014—A shooting at Fort Hood leaves four people dead—including the gunman—and 16 others injured.

Feb. 5, 2013—Shirley Chambers, a mother living in Chicago, loses her fourth child to gun violence. Her first was killed in the 1990s and two others were shot to death just months apart in 2000. In a March 9, 2009, publication, 508 Chicago school children were shot from September 2007 to the end of December 2008.

Dec. 14, 2012—A 20-year-old kills 20 children, ages 6 and 7, and 6 adult teachers and staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Oct. 12, 2011—Eight people are shot to death at a beauty salon in Seal Beach, a small Southern California town. It is the deadliest mass shooting in Orange County history.

April 4, 2009—While a group of immigrants are taking a citizenship class, in Binghamton, N.Y., a gunman opens fire and kills 13 of them before committing suicide. The police chief stated that these were just people trying to better themselves and become citizens.

Collaborative Policing
In order to respond to America’s culture of violence, properly understanding and implementing collaborative policing—an evolution of community policing widely used especially in the 1990s—is more critical then ever.

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) defines community policing as follows:

“Community policing focuses on crime and social disorder through the delivery of police services that includes aspects of traditional law enforcement, as well as prevention, problem-solving, community engagement, and partnerships. … Community policing requires police and citizens to join together as partners in the course of both identifying and effectively addressing these issues.”

Collaborative policing is a much deeper form of community policing, as recently stated by NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton during a June 2014 interview with COPS. Bratton stated that collaborative policing is a natural outgrowth of community policing with more of a focus on inclusions, transparency, and bridge building.

Transforming Communities
There are many outstanding and desperately needed community cohesiveness-building programs essential to collaborative policing. They must cultivate leadership, trust, and vigilance within every facet of our communities and include:

•Faith-based partnership building
•Cross-cultural partnership enhancement
•Student educational initiatives at schools and campuses
•Ongoing leadership/ethics certification programs for police personnel
•Citizen/business/interdepartmental/interagency initiatives
•Law enforcement/private security conferences and summits
•Citizen police advisers and subject matter experts
•Neighborhood revitalization initiatives
•Precinct/department certification initiatives
•School, workplace, domestic violence prevention programs
•Gang/terrorism prevention initiatives

America must be reawakened and we must be transformed from our culture of violence. The bonding between the police and the people through the collaborative policing philosophy is a critical first step in the right direction.

Collaborative Policing: Countering America's Culture of Violence was first published in Vincent's weekly column titled "Reawakening the Nation" for the Friday, June 27, 2014 edition of the Epoch Times.

Photo's
1. A child pets a NYPD police horse in Times Square during Memorial Day weekend 2011. (Vincent J. Bove)
2. NYPD Commissioner Bratton speaking on collaborative policing to over 150 law enforcement and private security professionals at the ASIS International NYC Chapter Yale Club luncheon on May 22, 2014. ASIS International is a global community of over 38,000 public and private security practitioners. (Vincent J. Bove)
3. Over 600 law enforcement and private security professionals attend the NYPD SHIELD conference at One Police Plaza on December 13, 2013. NYPD SHIELD is a program coordinating the efforts of public and private sectors with the goal of protecting NYC from terrorist attacks. (Vincent J. Bove)
4. Over 800 law enforcement and private security professionals attend the ASIS International Annual Security Conference and Expo luncheon at the Jacob Javits Center on March 14, 2014. (Vincent J. Bove)

School Violence Crisis: America, Wake Up

Tragically, as the school year ends, we have once again witnessed a year of violent incidents at schools and campuses nationwide.
American flags continually fly at half-staff. Our culture of violence has no end in sight. Alarmingly, tragedies appear more commonly but outrage within society is diminishing. America must wakeup, take action, and stop the carnage.

A Partial List
Recent and notorious incidents of the rampage paint an unsettling picture:

June 10, 2014—A student is shot to death by another student at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Ore. After the killing, the shooter commits suicide.

May 24, 2014—Six lives are lost on the University of California–Santa Barbara campus before the shooter commits suicide.

April 9, 2014—A mass stabbing by a 16-year-old student of 21 people takes place at Franklin Regional High School in Pennsylvania. Four victims were left in serious condition.

Dec.13, 2013—A student dies eight days after being shot at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colo.

Oct. 21, 2013—A 12-year-old student kills a teacher and shoots two other 12-year-olds before killing himself at Sparks Middle School in Nevada.

Dec. 14, 2012—A 20-year-old kills 20 children, ages 6 and 7, and 6 adult teachers and staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

April 16, 2007—The deadliest shooting in U.S. history by a single gunman takes place at Virginia Tech with 32 students killed and at least 17 wounded.

Responding to the Crisis
The crisis demands a comprehensive response with many approaches including the following:

•Properly interpreting the Second Amendment
•Threat assessments
•Mental health
•Security vulnerability assessments
•Crisis planning
•Self-defense
•Broken families
•Physical, personnel, and procedural security measures
•Educational, private security, and law enforcement partnerships
•Warning signs

Although I appreciate the importance of all of these approaches and have addressed them accordingly in my work, let us take a moment to focus on warning signs. In my presentations throughout the United States since Columbine in 1999, I have found too many individuals in educational, security, and law enforcement positions detached from warning signs.

At numerous venues, I have held up a copy of “Early Warning Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools” before large crowds. Many respond that they are unfamiliar with the classic document. This collaborative publication of the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice was released in 1998, before the Columbine High School tragedy in April 1999. It was developed to “provide the practical help needed to keep every child in your school out of harm’s way.”

This document must be required professional development training for all involved with education and school security. It offers research-based practices designed to identify warning signs early and develop prevention, intervention, and crisis response plans related to:

•Social withdrawal
•Excessive feelings of isolation and being alone
•Being a victim of violence
•Feelings of being picked on and persecuted
•Low school interest and poor academic performance
•Uncontrolled anger
•Patterns of impulsive and chronic hitting, intimidating, and bullying
•Expression of violence in writings
•History of discipline problems
•Past history of violent aggressive behavior
•Drug and alcohol use
•Affiliation with gangs
•Intolerance for differences and prejudicial attitudes
•Inappropriate access to, possession of, and use of firearms
•Serious threats of violence

I have given thousands of copies of it at assemblies, all at no cost thanks to the aforementioned agencies. The teaching within it is critical because as we continually see with reviewing tragedies, warning signs were ignored and the violence was preventable.

Eyes Wide Open
America must wake up and put the lessons learned from school and campus violence tragedies into action. The reawakening of the nation will only take place when we have eyes wide open to comprehensive security issues and respond to warning signs with full-force resolve and action.

As originally published in Vincent's weekly column titled "Reawakening the Nation" in the Friday, June 20 edition of the Epoch Times.

Photo's
1.Over 100 educators from the North Arlington Public Schools in New Jersey assemble for a professional development session conducted by Vincent J. Bove prior to the school year on Sept. 3, 2013. All attendees received copies of “Early Warning Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools.” (Vincent J. Bove)
2.Over 300 educators, law enforcement officials, and community leaders at the Marriott in Teaneck, N.J., on Oct. 22, 2008. Vincent J. Bove delivered the keynote on school violence prevention and presented copies of “Early Warning Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools” to all attendees. (Vincent J. Bove)
3.Copies of “Early Warning Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools” are ready for distribution at the North Arlington Public Schools event. (Vincent J. Bove)

America’s Graduates: Transform the Nation with Character

As graduates from American schools celebrate during this time of year, we congratulate them.

We commend their efforts, perseverance, and success. At the same time we encourage them to step up courageously to this pivotal time in history. They have the power to change the world by living lives of character.

Rising to the Occasion
Society is undergoing extraordinary challenges. America is experiencing an unprecedented head-on collision—a culture of violence and crisis of character.

This current crisis did not happen overnight. It has taken generations for us to arrive at this juncture. It will take generations to transform our nation. America’s youth are critical to this transformation—they are the future of our nation and the world.

Our youth must carry the torch and keep the flame of hope burning bright. They have the responsibility of turning the tide. Their energy, enthusiasm, and generosity will build a better world. The culture of violence and crisis of character may have its day. But in due time, the character of our youth will lift the nation.

Our youth are America’s treasure. Let us encourage them to rise to the occasion—their families, communities, and nation needs them. They deserve our affirmation and guidance to ignite a renewal of character within America and throughout the world.

Be a Person of Character
Although I am privileged to address large assemblies of youth, a recent venue deserves recognition. It represents the great hope we must have in our youth.

On Saturday, March 8, I delivered my signature presentation for college students titled “Be a Person of Character: Change the World” at Monmouth University.

This event celebrated the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society’s induction ceremony. It honored academic excellence, character, and family with over 800 students, family, and friends in attendance.

The 249 new members of the honor society—out of a class of close to 1,000—were inducted. They maintained a 3.5 or higher GPA in their first semester at Monmouth University.

During my keynote, I asked the audience to take a journey with me. A candid picture of societal challenges was painted:
•Our Culture of Violence and Character Crisis
•Social Networking Ramifications
•Broken Families
•The Gang Mentality
•America’s “Get High” Society

We then moved from the challenges to the power of character:
•Achieving Greatness through Sacrifice
•Living a Life of Dignity
•Kindness, Respect, Civility
•Community Building
•Bringing Out the Best in Others
•Helping Others Do What Is Right

As I spoke, families responded with thunderous rounds of applause and three standing ovations. This fervor was directed to the students encouraging them to change the world through their character.

Afterward, Rianna Rae, an inductee and international business major, said, “I think it’s very important to recognize that the world can be a better place and our generation can be the change the world needs.”

Rae continued, “I got chills seeing friends and family of inductees standing and applauding us knowing that they believe we, as inductees, can really make a difference on campus, in the local community, and the world if we so choose.”

The Future Is Bright
At times it can seem that the future is bleak when bombarded by apathy and one crisis after another. But America’s future is bright because of these students and many like them nationwide. These young people, supported by the admiration of their families and friends remind us of the power of community, character, and encouragement.

Although my words implored the students to change the world, the highlight of the day was their enthusiasm, respectfulness, and energy. Our youth give America great hope and I am confident they will heed their call to reawakening the nation.

As published in Vincent's weekly column titled Reawakening the Nation for the Friday, June 13, 2014 edition of the Epoch Times.





Photos
1.Monmouth University Phi Eta Semma National Honor Society officers (L-R), Amanda Kruzynski (president), Alexis DeCarvalho (vice president), Dr. Golam M. Mathbor (faculty adviser) Vincent J. Bove (keynote speaker), Taylor Bernosky (historian), Carolina Carvalho (secretary), and Rebecca Groom (treasurer). (Brian Kutner)
2.Over 800 family, friends, and students at the National Honor Society Induction. (Vincent J. Bove)
3.Monmouth University Phi Eta Semma National Honor Society inductees on March 8, 2014, with keynote speaker Vincent J. Bove. (Courtesy of Dr. Golam M. Mathbor)
4.Student volunteers with complimentary copies of “Listen To Their Cries” for all inductees as sponsored by Monmouth University. (Vincent J. Bove)

Testimonial
Dear Mr. Bove,
On behalf of Phi Eta Sigma, National Freshman Honor, we would like to thank you very much for your eloquent keynote speech to our new honor society members and their guests for a total audience of 800 people. These new members are the finest group of students who maintained a 3.5 or higher GPA in their first semester at Monmouth University during the 2013 fall semester. This year 249 students are inducted as members of this prestigious honor society from a freshman class of close to 1000 students. The theme of your address ‘be a person of character’ is pivotal in maintaining academic excellence in their future career at Monmouth and beyond. I am sure the new members will take advantage of the advice given in your book Listen to their Cries: Calling the Nation to Renewal from Columbine to Virginia Tech.

Sincerely,
Golam M. Mathbor, Ph.D.
Professor and Associate Dean
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Advisor, Phi Eta Sigma National Freshman Honor Society
Monmouth University Chapter

Remembering D-Day: Rehabilitating American Character

America, and all dedicated to freedom throughout the world, must reverently pause on Friday, June 6, the 70th anniversary of D-Day. On D-Day, good triumphed over evil and the end of World War II began.

D-Day’s anniversary recalls the Western Allies beginning the Invasion of Normandy to free mainland Europe from Nazi occupation. Despite suffering heavy casualties, the United States and Allied Forces were victorious. America and its allies liberated millions of innocent people being oppressed and murdered by Hitler and the Nazis.

Just prior to the D-Day offensive, the immortal words of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, ignited inspiration:

“Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! … The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you … you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. … The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory! I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!…”

D-Day reminds us of the true meaning of character—individuals who laid down their lives for others and in doing so saved the world.

These heroes must be eternally honored.

D-Day Highlights
•The largest seaborne invasion in history
•13,000 Allied paratroopers flown in from nine British airfields in over 800 planes
•A military armada with over 156,000 troops, 5,000 vessels, and nearly 30,000 vehicles
•More than 11,000 aircraft
•More than 300 planes dropping over 13,000 bombs over coastal Normandy prior to D-Day
•Over 9,000 Allied soldiers dead or wounded by the end of the day of June 6
•The beginning of Europe’s liberation and the end of World War II—the deadliest military conflict in history that resulted in the loss of 60 million–80 million lives

Leadership Lessons for Today
It is not enough to commemorate D-Day by reverently pausing. We must ignite transforming action and rehabilitate the nation.

Here are some timeless leadership lessons of this epic historical event so critical for America today.

Appreciate Industrial Capacity
D-Day gives us appreciation of America’s industrial capacity and can give us the courage to transform it.

According to historian Stephen E. Ambrose, during the D-Day invasion and in the days afterward, American GI’s were better equipped than their foe because our vehicles were superior. Germany could not compete with America’s two-and-a-half-ton truck or the jeep.

American factories were across the ocean from Normandy while German factories were close at hand. Yet, America received more vehicles and better designed ones to the battlefield in less time.

The current General Motors scandal—delaying a recall of defective ignition switches for years, resulting in injuries and deaths—dishonors America. The company was recently fined $35 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation. GM failed the nation because they failed to fix a preventable and inexpensive problem.

Our nation must again represent the highest standards of manufacturing that proudly proclaims “Made in America.”

World Is a Family
The world is a family with each person of every nation deserving of dignity, respect, and protection.

America must forever remain faithful to its legacy of compassion for the vulnerable and oppressed. Whenever there is human suffering at home or abroad, America must respond with moral authority in both word and action.

Character Counters Violence
America must reclaim its communities from the appalling culture of violence.

Headlines of horrific acts of violence continue in schools, campuses, movie theaters, malls, communities, and homes. Violence brings heartbreak nationwide: Camden, Flint, St. Louis, Cleveland, Gary, Bridgeport, Birmingham, Newark, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Oakland. Even sacred places of worship once thought to be sanctuaries of peace are experiencing incidents becoming all too common.

America’s character led to the reclaiming of the tranquility for countless millions on distant shores through the heroic events that began on D-Day.

Our nation can and must also bring security to communities throughout our homeland by rehabilitating the character exemplified on D-Day and, in doing so, reawaken the nation.

Photo's
American troops, supporting those already on the coast of Northern France, plunge into the surf and wade shoreward carrying equipment on Utah Beach, Les Dunes de Madeleine, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944. (STF/AFP/Getty Images)

General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the order of the Day. "Full victory-nothing else" to paratroopers in England, just before they board their airplanes to participate in the first assault in the invasion of the continent of Europe." Eisenhower is meeting with US Co. E, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (Strike), photo taken at Greenham Common Airfield in England about 8:30 p.m. on June 5, 1944. ID: p013227

American Cemetery and Monument at Normandy.

The Hoboken World War II Memorial on Sinatra Drive in Hoboken commemorates the 159 residents who died in military service during the war. (Vincent J. Bove)

As authored by Vincent J. Bove for his weekly column for the Epoch Times, Friday, June 6,2014 edition.