America’s Culture of Deception: The Art of the Con

Truth is the indispensable moral sanction for a healthy society.

Whenever there is deception, or the misrepresentation of truth, the moral order required by society is wounded.

Our nation is experiencing a massive and pervasive pandemic of deception.

We must respond to the crisis of deception and dedicate ourselves to the principles of honor, integrity, and truthfulness.

America Demands Truth

All human activities demand sincerity, candor, and veracity. These virtues must be the iron-clad barriers against deceitfulness, duplicity, and hypocrisy.

Truth is a servant of justice, which can never be served by falsehood, slander, perjury, or calumny.

Lying is a direct offense against truth and a profound injustice. It violates an individual’s right to reputation, honor, and dignity.

Whenever anyone has the right to know the truth and is deceived, the harmony of a moral order is undermined.

Lying is contemptuous and deserves condemnation because it violates justice, charity, and trust.

When lying becomes normalized, the bedrock of trust required by society is violated.

Trust in society is impossible without truth as its foundation.

Deception: Destructive to America

On Monday, March 27, the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey released a statement providing insight into America’s culture of deception.

This statement focused on the sentencing of jewelry store owners for their roles in an international $200 million credit card scheme.

Yet, it clearly highlights the pervasive deception taking place throughout America, causing a rotting of the moral order from within.

In this case, two individuals were the heart of a scheme to fabricate 7,000 false identities to obtain tens of thousands of credit cards.

Participants, according to the official government statement, “doctored credit reports to pump up the spending and borrowing power associated with the cards. Then they borrowed or spent as much as they could, based on the phony credit history, but did not repay the debts-causing more than $200 million in confirmed losses to businesses and financial institutions.”

The statement on this case concludes with sobering statistics memorializing massive fraud taking place throughout America.

Over the past three fiscal years, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants. This includes more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants.

The Con against America’s Senior Citizens

Compounding the deception throughout America highlighted in the aforementioned, the FBI has concerns for senior citizens.

Senior citizens are often targets for fraud schemes for reasons that include the following:

• Senior citizens often have a nest egg and excellent credit.
• Seniors are often polite and trusting and these virtues are exploited by con artists.
• Seniors often do not report fraud because they are embarrassed, or they are unaware they were scammed.
• Seniors often do not make reliable witnesses due to the extended time frame of the criminal justice system.

According to the National Council on Aging (NCOA), the top 10 financial scams targeting seniors are as follows:

1. Medicare / health insurance scams
2. Counterfeit prescription drugs
3. Funeral / cemetery scams
4. Fraudulent anti-aging scams
5. Telemarketing / phone scams
6. Internet fraud
7. Investment scams
8. Homeowner / reverse mortgage scams
9. Sweepstakes & lottery scams
10. The grandparent scam

America’s Culture of Deception

Each day we are witnessing the realities of a culture of deception, and its detrimental impact on America.

The crisis of honesty is an indictment of our culture of deception. It is evident through the slick escapades of con artists victimizing law abiding citizens through scams, schemes, and shams.

But con artists can also victimize America at the highest levels of government. These examples are memorialized in the public corruption section of the FBI website and through extensive media coverage.

The list of American politicians convicted of crimes either committed, or prosecuted while holding office in the federal government is a travesty.

This scandalous list includes a Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressmen, a U.S District Judge, Chief of Staff to a Vice President, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and the Director of the Domestic Policy Council.

There is no end in sight to these scandals. Pending investigations of officials at the highest level of government will continue. These will certainly result in additional convictions of those who have disgraced the public trust.

Final Reflections

Society cannot exist without truth as its foundation.

Truth must be the pillar of America’s families, communities, workplaces, schools, houses of worship, government leaders, and armed forces.

Honesty is the only healing remedy to the venom of deceptiveness. The virtue of truth must be served by accountability, transparency, justice, and moral decency.

America must have its eyes wide open to those entrusted with leadership.

We have a right to expect truthfulness from all who take the oath to serve.

“We the People” also have the responsibility of reminding our leaders of the words of Thomas Jefferson:

“The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.”

Related Coverage:

Drain the Swamp: Championing America’s Ethical Renaissance

American Government Requires Ethical Leadership

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Linkedin: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

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Vincent is author of over 200 articles, including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing.

NYPD Leaders Exemplify Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect

These words, highlighting the achievements of the NYPD, are detailed on the New York City government website:

“For the past 25 years the NYPD has created and refined a crime-fighting system that led the nation and proved that police can drive down crime even as the population grows significantly.”

It is important to review some statistics to appreciate the achievements of the NYPD.

NYPD Crime Data Warehouse

Information from the NYPD present insightful statistics from 1990 – 2014 on the historic reduction in crime. As the population grew from 7,332, 564 in 1990 to 8,475,500 in 2014, crimes dropped from 560,000 to 106,000.

The NYPD Crime Data Warehouse, cited as the source for these statistics, also notes that the number of murders dropped from 2,245 in 1990 to 333 in 2014.

New York City recorded the lowest number of murders in 2014, since 1957, dropping a staggering 85 percent since 1990.

New York City Transit Crime reduction also deserve attention. The total felony crimes have dropped 87% since 1990 although ridership has nearly doubled.

In 1990, subway ridership was estimated at 1 billion people per year with 17,497 crimes.

In 2014, ridership was an estimated 1.7 billion with 2,333 crimes.

Driving Down Crime: Reducing Use-of Force

The aforementioned statistics are leading crime reduction achievements for America. They were achieved with reductions in use-of-force and officer-involved shootings and fatalities.

In 1990, there were 39 subjects that were shot and killed by police with an intentional discharge during an adversarial conflict. In 2014, there were 8.

Regarding the controversial stop, question, and frisk encounters, the NYPD Crime Data Warehouse cites a 93 percent drop since 2011.

Aside from the years noted above, current NYPD CompStat documents (open-source public records) also document the success of crime prevention. This program holds NYPD leaders accountable and memorializes continued achievements with reducing crime.

The NYPD, in collaboration with law-abiding citizens is making New York City a model of crime prevention for America.

For instance, compare New York City to Chicago. In one published report during 2016, Chicago had about 67 shootings per 100,000 people while New York City had five.

The aforementioned statistics are positive but unfortunately the media often sensationalizes the negative.

This is an injustice to the gallant efforts of dedicated NYPD rank and file, citizens, and police leaders.

NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill

Over the past 24 hours, I have had the privilege of speaking with, and listening to the highest level of NYPD leadership.

Although the character of these officials would direct praise to their rank and file, their highly-decorated careers exemplify authentic leadership.

According to his official bio, James P. O’Neill is the 43rd NYPD commissioner. Previously, he served as chief of department, the NYPD’s highest uniformed rank.

Commissioner O’Neill is credited with developing neighborhood based policing. This concept highlights more personal police and community interaction.

During a moment with Commissioner O’Neill on March 21, after his presentation for the American Academy for Professional Law Enforcement (AAPLE), I asked him for an explanation of the difference between community policing and neighborhood based policing.

He stressed that neighborhood based policing demands more of an accountability on the officer. The officer not only develops partnerships with the community but assumes an ownership of responsibility.

The key to neighborhood based policing is ownership according to O’Neill. “Fighting crime is what we get paid to do,” he says, “But we can’t do that unless we achieve full partnership with the community. Unless we have that connectivity, it’s not going to work.”

NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert K. Boyce

On Monday evening, March 20, at a National Law Enforcement Associates (NLEA) event, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert K. Boyce was the featured speaker.

Prior to his presentation, I took a moment to personally thank Chief Boyce. I expressed to him that he was fulfilling his sacrosanct mission to protect the people of New York, and his work deserved gratitude.

As detailed on his NYPD official bio, Chief Boyce has been with the department since January, 1983. He ascended through the ranks over the years, and has always respected for his leadership, professionalism, and dedication.

According to NYPD News, Chief Boyce is virtually responsible for all of the Department’s investigative resources. Each of the eight Patrol Boroughs has a Detective Chief, who reports directly to Chief Boyce. These individuals are responsible for the Patrol Borough’s Precinct Detective Squads, Homicide Squad, Night Watch, Narcotics, Vice Module, and Gang Squad. A Detective Chief works collaboratively with the uniformed Borough Chief. This ensures that the work of Precinct Detective Squads, Narcotics, Gang, and Vice have resources that are closely coordinated to address crime in the boroughs.

Final Reflections

Emblazoned on every NYPD vehicle are the words courtesy, professionalism, and respect.

For Commissioner O’Neill and Chief Boyce, these is not merely a motto but principles of ethical protectors.

Although the humility of these two fine men would direct attention to the hard working rank and file, a moment to express gratitude for their well decorated careers is in order.

Respect is at the heart of every dedicated police leader because their work is not just a job but a vocation.

Praise, gratitude, and encouragement are the order of the day for Commissioner O'Neill and Chief Boyce, and for all police leaders who inspire respect.

Note Well:

Linkedin: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

Join Vincent’s Linkedin Group: The Sentinel: Reawakening the Nation

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Vincent is author of over 200 articles, including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing.

Related Coverage:

NYPD Mission: Develop 35,000 Ethical Protectors

Policing Requires Ethical Protectors

Photos

1. NYPD substation, Times Square, Dec. 19, 2014. (Vincent J. Bove)
2. NYPD officer assisting Times Square visitor. (Vincent J. Bove)
3. Commissioner James O'Neill, while serving the NYPD as Chief of the Department. (Courtesy NYPD News)
4. New York Police Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce speaks to the media in New York on June 4, 2014. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Drain the Swamp: Championing America’s Ethical Renaissance

The term drain the swamp is originally associated with a method of destroying disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Yet, drain the swamp also has a figurative meaning of exterminating something harmful, toxic, or abusive.

Therefore, drain the swamp is applied to corruption, government waste, fraud, or deceptiveness.

Just as mosquitoes can transmit disease, unscrupulous individuals in positions of authority, with a toxic addiction to power, can be venomous to society.

America Requires an Ethical Renaissance

When Thomas Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence, he began with these immortal words:

“When in the course of human events.”

Jefferson continues with enumerating grievances against the corrupt British crown.

He ignited fire in the hearts of patriots hungry for liberty, freedom, and human rights.

The heart of Jefferson was reechoed in 1858 with the senatorial campaign of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln described Jefferson’s words as “the electric cord … that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty loving people together.”

As in the times of Jefferson and Lincoln, America is experiencing corruption, greed, and abuses of power.

The swamp must be drained, not by impotent words but by actions built on pillars of moral courage, transformational leadership, and persuasive character.

Only these principles can conquer our culture of corruption and lead us to an authentic ethical renaissance.

Public Corruption Undermines America’s Security

As we make efforts to reawaken the nation by remedying our culture of corruption, we must again turn to Lincoln.

On Jan. 27, 1838, in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln addressed the reality of dangers, not from outside America, but from within.

In his address titled “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions,” his words against the destructive ability of a tyrant demand our attention:

“Is it unreasonable, then, to expect that some man possessed of the loftiest genius, coupled with ambition sufficient to push it to its utmost stretch, will at some time spring up among us? And when such a one does, it will require the people to be united with each other, attached to the government and laws, and generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate his designs. Distinction will be his paramount object, and although he would as willingly, perhaps more so, acquire it by doing good as harm, yet, that opportunity being past, and nothing left to be done in the way of building up, he would set boldly to the task of pulling down.”

The reality of Lincoln’s words are upon us. There are many in positions of power that violate the public trust. They are not honoring their sacred oaths to serve. Instead, reprehensible examples of greed, self-aggrandizement, arrogance, superficiality, and self-centeredness are wrecking havoc on our moral compass.

America must remember that it is built on the foundation of “We the People.”

We must stand against this culture of tyranny and reignite principles of ethics, character, and leadership in the heart of America.

Public Corruption: A Swamp of Tyranny

Tyranny corrupts society when individuals use authority to exercise power oppressively or unjustly.

America is experiencing a swamp of tyranny as illuminated by this information on the FBI website:

“Public corruption, the FBI’s top criminal investigative priority, poses a fundamental threat to our national security and way of life. It can affect everything from how well our borders are secured and our neighborhoods protected to how verdicts are handed down in courts to how public infrastructure such as roads and schools are built. It also takes a significant toll on the public’s pocketbooks by siphoning off tax dollars—it is estimated that public corruption costs the U.S. government and the public billions of dollars each year. The FBI is uniquely situated to combat corruption, with the skills and capabilities to run complex undercover operations and surveillance.”

These are only a few examples from the FBI site, from the last 30 days alone, highlighting the magnitude of a swamp of tyranny.

• Former State Representative Indicted on Fraud Charges
• Former Treasurer of Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department Pleads Guilty to Fraud, Tax, Obstruction of Justice, and False Statement Charges Arising from His Embezzlement of More Than $5.6 Million
• Former Postal Employee Convicted of Soliciting Bribes During Election
• Former New Jersey Attorney General and Chairman of Port Authority Board of Commissioners Sentenced to One Year of Home Confinement for Bribery
• Fulton County Contract Supplier Guilty of Giving Kickbacks Tied to Construction of Fulton County Detention Center
• Two Corrections Officers Sentenced for Smuggling Drugs Into Middleton Jail
• Former Arkansas State Senator and Two Others Charged with Bribery and Fraud Scheme
• Seven Baltimore City Police Officers Arrested for Abusing Power in Federal Racketeering Conspiracy
• Seven Defendants Plead Guilty to Millions of Dollars of Fraudulent Sales to Defense Department
• Former Ville Platte detective sentenced for filing false police report to cover up civil rights violation
• Former North Carolina State Senator Pleads Guilty
• Former Bayonne Official Sentenced to 21 Months Prison for Accepting $65,000 in Bribes for Awarding HUD Grant Funds

Igniting America’s Ethical Renaissance

The conclusion of my article for the Feb. 6, 2015 edition of the Epoch Times titled “America’s Corrupt Culture Beckons Ethical Renaissance” deserves reflection again.

“America will be the nation of character it is destined to be when these words become the heartbeat of the nation:

“Inspiring an ethical renaissance in America is a daunting task but we must rise to the occasion. Our country has had seemingly insurmountable trials before and we have risen to the occasion.

“Corruption is a crisis that runs deep within the arteries of many public servants. Our first step toward renewal is to accept the crisis of character as a reality without denial.

“When we make an honest assessment of this crisis, we can commit ourselves to reawakening the nation through accountability in the criminal justice system, ethics initiatives throughout every level of society, and a world-class, second-to-none character education initiative for every American student.

“If we are serious about America, we will be fully dedicated to its ethical renaissance and find no excuses for changing the course of the nation.”

Related Coverage:

American Government Requires Ethical Leadership

America’s Realignment: Character, Ethics, Leadership

Note Well:

Linkedin: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

Join Vincent’s Linkedin Group: The Sentinel: Reawakening the Nation

Facebook: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

Vincent is author of over 200 articles, including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing.

Photos

1. Official Presidential portrait of Thomas Jefferson, 31 December 1799. (Rembrandt Peale / Public Domain)

2. Abraham Lincoln, 1865, 2 months before his death. (Alexander Gardner / Public Domain)

Protecting America Demands Cutting Edge Security Measures

The world has changed and these are challenging times for police, private security, our military, and citizens.

We must rise to the occasion with an unwavering dedication to collaboration and protect our homeland’s hard and soft targets.

Hard targets include military bases, embassies, and numerous high-risk government facilities.

These are normally more challenging to compromise because they are fortified with countermeasures of layers of protection, or defense in depth.

Yet, hard target security must continually be assessed and enhanced. The reality is that there are individuals making sophisticated and unprecedented plans to exploit vulnerabilities.

Soft targets are easier to compromise and are normally understood as places full of ordinary people, as opposed to a military base.

There are soft targets throughout society that include trains, subways, museums, hospitals, corporations, schools, colleges, restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, houses of worship, transportation terminals, cultural sites, financial institutions, and sporting events.

Law enforcement, private security and our military, along with the general public, must remain vigilant to safeguard the nation.

Public, Private, Citizen Collaboration

As one walks the streets of New York City, the vigilant presence of dedicated NYPD officers protecting us must be appreciated.

Their dedication must be recognized, not only with its presence throughout the city with special events, but with uniformed officers walking the beat, and with highly trained and heavily armed units.

But the NYPD cannot do it alone. There must always be collaboration with private security, and citizens.

All of us must be aware of our surroundings and work together to protect one another.

Security Countermeasures: Practical Tips

A robust security program must be comprehensive, proactive, and continually updated. Security must never be piecemeal, negligent, or have its importance minimized.

Approaches to security in workplaces, schools, campuses, houses of worship, communities, and iconic locations, must include the following:

Security Vulnerability Assessments: These deserve attention by board-certified, reputable, and experienced public safety professionals in order to most effectively identify and evaluate areas of risk. Competent professionals have the experience to harden the targets through defense in depth principles, conduct efficacious training initiatives, and implement layers of protection.

Background Checks/Investigations: This is an essential due diligence countermeasure that prevent hiring individuals who do not deserve employment or access. These checks must be made by qualified, licensed professionals who honor laws conducting background checks. Background checks include criminal history reports, drug testing, motor vehicle driving records, credit checks, liens and judgments, sexual offender registries, employment and professional credential verifications.

Investigations that include surveillance, interviewing, and information sources by experienced, conscientious, and ethical professionals are critical to protecting public and private enterprises.

Training: A critical component of security and safety is ongoing training that includes personal safety, substance abuse awareness, bomb threats, active shooter response, domestic violence, diversity, conflict resolution, ethics, situational awareness, cyber-security, workplace violence, fire prevention, crisis management, emergency preparedness, loss prevention, economic crime, crime prevention, drills, evacuations, and warning signs.

Warning Signs: We must recognize that warning signs are critical and provide the necessary intervention, training, health care, and security measure necessary to prevent tragedies.

Physical Security: This includes countermeasures preventing unauthorized access that includes fencing, barrier arms, access control and card access systems, ID cards, lighting, crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), defense in depth, locks, alarms, fire extinguishers, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), mass communication systems, radio communication programs, ID management systems, guard tour systems, and metal detectors.

Access control is critical as these countermeasures deny entry to individuals who must not be authorized to enter.

Personnel Security: Certified, well-trained, respectably paid, and licensed security officer and fire safety programs involving reputable contract or in-house professionals with either armed or unarmed personnel. Our world has changed and security must be enhanced.

The presence of licensed, trained, certified, law enforcement or military experienced individuals who are armed and present in tactical gear deserves serious consideration at many locations.

Procedural Security: Drills deserve planning and evaluation with table-top exercises and involve partial and full-scale initiatives based on numerous possible scenarios. These must be complemented by the expertise and involvement of law enforcement and first-responders. Essential to training and drills is the Active Shooter program detailed on the FBI website titled RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.

Informational/Cybersecurity: In this age of instantaneous global data at the fingertips of individuals across the globe, some with nefarious intentions, protecting information is vital to security.

Informational security must be effective and continually updated with ongoing training for personnel that empowers them with preventive techniques. This protects from breaches of information through the Internet, dumpster diving, ransomware, phishing scams, mobile payment and banking hacks, and social engineering. Prevention measures and training can prevent unnecessary turmoil to companies and employees.

Rise to the Occasion

America must do everything in its power to enhance security during these challenging times in the nation.

We are a nation that has a history of security challenges. Yet, once again America will rise to the occasion with the dedication, commitment, and professionalism of our citizens and all in the public and private sectors.

Note Well:

Linkedin: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

Join Vincent’s Linkedin Group: The Sentinel: Reawakening the Nation

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Vincent is author of over 200 articles, including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing.

Photos

1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Feb. 14, 2015. (Vincent J. Bove)

2. NYPD presence at Macy's, Herald Square, New York City, Nov. 21, 2015. (Vincent J. Bove)