American School Violence Requires a Response of Courage, Commitment, and Community

America must pause to reverently honor the lives of two beloved high school students gone too soon.

These 15-year-old students from Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky were the latest victims of our school violence crisis, dead at the hands of a 15-year-old gunman.

The two students knew each other since kindergarten where they sat right beside one another. They grew up together, continually interacting with each other in their tight-knit community.

Bailey Nicole Holt was described by her aunt as the “salt of the earth.” Bailey loved wearing jeans, listening to classic rock, and college sports.

Preston Ryan Cope was on the school baseball team and loved the St. Louis Cardinals. Preston was described by a family spokesperson as “caring, compassionate, with a gentle spirit, and the biggest heart.”

America must pray for their families, friends, communities, classmates, and the 18 other victims of the tragedy.

We must also be fully dedicated to ending these tragedies through courage, commitment, and community.

Listen To Their Cries: America’s Clarion Call

America must listen to the cries coming from Kentucky, and from communities throughout the nation that have suffered from tragedies.

The school violence crisis will continue unless we respond collaboratively.

America must not wait for the next school violence tragedy. It is time to stand up and be counted as a dedicated member of the community and get involved with our youth through the schools. Failure is not an option for the price is too great. We must prevail in taking back America from the culture of violence which has become so massive, heartbreaking, and pervasive.

America must not be desensitized through a continuous, reprehensible, and intensifying bombardment of violence. We must become and remain outraged and respond with full force determination and reawaken to a nation with a clear moral compass.

Our nation has suffered for too many years with a crisis of leadership. We must dedicate ourselves to a renewal of character, courage, and compassion for a transformation of America, only possible through our homes and in our schools.

Preventing Violence: Empowering Communities

Just a few day prior to the Benton, Kentucky tragedy I addressed 100 members of the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association (BCPCA) on Jan. 18 in Old Tappan, New Jersey. My remarks on school violence prevention crystalized my presentations and published works since the Columbine tragedy in 1999.

Although many programs are essential for a comprehensive school violence prevention program, these quick tips were shared with the BCPCA as critical initiatives for American schools:

• School Vulnerability Assessments (SVA): these must be conducted by reputable, board certified professionals in security. They are much more comprehensive than security surveys and cover all issues relative to the school including physical, personal, and procedural security. The importance of interviewing members throughout the school community is essential to the SVA. These include administrators, mental health professionals, teachers, students, parents, school bus drivers, and vendors.

• Professional Development Programs: these programs are important for all staff members and must include coaches, parents, cafeteria personnel, and all involved with the school. It should involve insights from U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Secret Service documents on school security that include Early Warning Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools, Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Safe Schools and Communities, Helping Your Child Become a Responsible Citizen, The Final Report And Findings Of The Safe School Initiative: Implications For The Prevention Of School Attacks In The United States, Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide To Managing Threatening Situations And To Creating Safe School Climates, and Character Education: Our Shared Responsibility.

• Character Development Initiatives for Students: Schools must provide the leadership to instill a culture of character. Character is critical to America and we will only transform the nation from a culture of violence when it’s importance is consistent, exemplified, and rewarded in our schools.

• School Resource Officers (SRO): The document, “To Protect & Educate: The School Resource Officer and the Prevention of Violence in Schools,” published by the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) is recommended. The SRO is a priceless component of violence prevention and character education for our schools. This community policing initiative affords the opportunity not only for violence prevention and education but also promotes a positive rapport between law enforcement and students. Schools should do everything possible to have an SRO program and law enforcement should be fully committed with the most qualified, trained, certified, and dedicated professionals available.

Other important elements for school security include board certified security directors, bullying prevention programs, crisis management teams, threat assessment teams, and updated emergency plans that are practiced with the entire school community.

Broken Communities: Lessons Learned

According to a published report in 2006, there were at least 25 security personnel protecting John McDonogh High School in New Orleans due to grave security concerns.

Many of the students at the school lived on their own or with other students since their parents were displaced due to Hurricane Katrina. The displacement had become a powder keg for anger continually manifested through violence.

During the first six weeks of the 2006 school year, a teacher and security guard were brutally beaten by students and hospitalized. Many other students attacked other security personnel, teachers, and a police officer. Over 20 students of the 775 faced expulsion and another 50 had already been suspended. The principal stated there were fights every day and there were six very serious assaults.

The grave security concerns at the high school where students displaced from their families were caught up in a battlefield of fights, assaults, and a dangerously distressing atmosphere offers a profound insight into the need for community. Whenever there is community brokenness, whether it is the community of the family, neighborhood, school, town, or city itself, this breakdown can contribute to inappropriate acting-out that includes numerous degrees of violence.

Community is part of the internal ticking clock of the human condition and vital for personal growth, health, safety, and welfare. Each and every human being is inherently social by nature. In light of this social dimension, the concept of community policing, such as the SRO program, and initiatives that build community, is critical for school violence prevention.

Final Reflections

America must turn the tide from this scourge of school violence.

We must build on the pillars of courage, commitment, and community to secure our schools.

Every educational community must be fully dedicated to this mission and inspire our youth with a bright future for America, full of hope, security, and character.

Read More:

America’s Schools: Security, Character, Academics

School Violence Crisis: America, Wake Up

American Teachers: Inspire the Heart and Transform the Country

America’s 21st Century Student: Character, Courage, Community

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 250 articles, including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing. As a national speaker, he has addressed audiences nationwide on issues critical to America including ethical leadership, violence prevention, and crisis planning.

Photos:

1. Students attend a prayer vigil for students killed and injured after a 15-year-old boy opened fire with a handgun at Marshall County High School, at Life in Christ Church in Marion, Kentucky on Jan. 23, 2018. (REUTERS/Harrison McClary)
2. Stewart Walker attends a prayer vigil for students killed and injured after a 15-year-old boy opened fire with a handgun at Marshall County High School, at Life in Christ Church in Marion, Kentucky on January 23, 2018. (REUTERS/Harrison McClary)
3. Washington School, Union City Public Schools, New Jersey, Feb. 27, 2009. (Vincent J. Bove)
4. School Resource Officer with students. (Courtesy of Aurora City, Colorado)

American Veteran Suicide Crisis Demands Ethical Leadership

Patriotism is expressed in many ways, but honoring the men and women who serve in our armed forces is the preeminent hallmark of love for one's country.

Military service is a sacrifice that expresses devotion to our nation. This service deserves dignity, honor, and gratitude of all privileged to call America home.

America honors military service, and especially the ultimate sacrifice, on Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

But every day, we must have a profound respect for our military. Their sacrifices, service, and commitment are critical for safeguarding our democracy, freedom, and way of life.

American Veterans Deserve Dignity

The American flag is the sacred symbol of our nation and deserves our unwavering respect.

As our flag flies throughout our land, at schools, workplaces, parades, homes, landmarks, parks, and streets, it is a sacrosanct reminder of the sacrifices of our armed forces.

As we honor our flag, we are reminded to remember all our veterans, especially those who suffer from the trails ignited by challenges during their service. We must have empathy that assists them in their time of need.

America’s veterans are experiencing a suicide crisis. We must respond with character, compassion, and commitment to alleviate their suffering.

A sense of immediate urgency to the veteran suicide crisis is the clarion call to America.

Veteran Suicide Tragedies: Time for Action

Although there are countless expressions of compassion by dedicated individuals in our veteran’s hospitals, there are well documented deficiencies.

These words, attributed to Abraham Lincoln, are therefore applicable to concerns with our veterans:

“He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.”

A few years ago, there was a shocking and well-documented medical scandal that scorched the conscience of America.

The travesty of treatment delays for veterans needing medical attention was a blistering commentary on the leadership crisis of America.

Although these published reports are no longer making headline news, the continual tragedies of treatment delays, compounded by veteran suicides must ignite our consciences.

America must respond with a heart of moral decency and not allow these injustices to continue.

Any injustice against our veterans in need of mental health treatment must ignite the soul of America to action.

In one heartbreaking story, a veteran, Byron Wade Earles tried to commit suicide on Nov. 7, 2016 after a veteran’s administration hospital denied him admission.

Just two months later, Earles died by suicide on Jan. 6, 2017.

According to published reports, a mental health worker had turned him away not believing his claim of a suicide attempt.

His death highlights America’s crisis memorialized in a history of published reports of deficiencies at veteran’s hospitals.

In another tragic story, Peter Kaiser, a 76-year-old veteran committed suicide in the parking lot of the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northport, New York. His suicide took place after allegedly being denied service at the center.

A published report quoted an anonymous hospital worker who stated that the veteran “went to the E.R. and was denied service … and then he went to his car and shot himself.”

Heart Wrenching Statistics: Red Flags

In one study by the Department of Veterans Affairs, statistics on our veteran suicide crisis are heart wrenching.

The study cites a staggering 22 deaths per day – or one every 65 minutes on average. This study covered veteran’s suicides from 1999 to 2010 and indicated that 69 percent of suicides were among individuals aged 50 years or older.

In other statistics documented by the Team Veteran Foundation website, nearly 137,000 veterans have died by suicide since 2001.

The website details these red flags that demand intervention when someone is contemplating suicide:

• Talking or discussions about wanting to die
• Researching ways to kill oneself
• References to hopelessness or feeling as if life has no purpose
• Feelings of being trapped or in unbearable pain
• Feelings of being a burden to others
• Increased alcohol or drug use
• Sleep changes; either excessive sleep or insomnia
• Isolation and withdrawal
• Expressions of rage or a desire to seek revenge
• Anxiety, agitation or recklessness
• Extreme mood swings
• Giving away important personal items or pets

Final Reflections

America’s veteran suicide crisis demands our moral leadership, empathy, and action.

Our response must take place through every segment of society and must include our youth, as they are the future of the nation.

One inspirational example of America’s youth responding to the suicide crisis was from two Traverse City high schools in Grand Traverse County, Michigan.

On Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018, students from these high schools presented a $13,000.00 check to a veteran suicide prevention group at half-time during a basketball game.

The students raised the money when their schools competed against one another during their Traverse City Patriot Game a few months earlier.

These students, through their character, compassion, and concern for the veterans give America great hope for our future.

May each of us be inspired by their example and be fully committed to caring for our veterans through prayer, words, and actions.

Read More:

America’s Veterans Deserve Honor, Homes, Health Care

America’s Veterans: Honoring Our Heroes

Armed Forces: Honor, Leadership, Protecting America

America’s Military Suicide Crisis: Awareness, Compassion, Prevention

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 250 articles, including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing. As a national speaker, he has addressed audiences nationwide on issues critical to America including ethical leadership, violence prevention, and crisis planning.

Photos

1. A military officer being consoled. (Credit Team Veteran Foundation)
2. An American veteran and Purple Heart Recipient on Fifth Avenue during New York City’s Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11, 2011. (Vincent J. Bove)
3. Veteran Jose Gonzalez pauses at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in New York City during the Memorial Day Observation on Monday, May 26, 2014. Gonzalez served in Vietnam 1968–1972. (Vincent J. Bove)
4. 22 Veterans suicides each day. (Credit military.com)
5. Homeless man sleeping with posted veteran sign, 31st Street between 6th and 7th avenue, New York City, Nov. 21, 2015. (Vincent J. Bove)

Portraits of American Character Help Reawaken the Nation

Character must be the heartbeat of America.

This virtue is critical to the reawakening of the nation.

It is the quality represents the ideals of the nation and the goodness of humanity.

Each person that is honored to call America home must continually reflect on living a life of character.

We must also have our eyes wide open and appreciate all who reflect the ideals of character in our society.

Diamond in the Rough

The term “diamond in the rough” is sometimes applied to an individual with hidden qualities that have not yet been polished to stand out.

A diamond in the rough is often a person who appears harsh. Yet, with some polishing this person can be developed to express acts of charity, benevolence, and compassion.

In my opinion, the term can also be applied to individuals who stand out as portraits of character in a society that can at times be callous, indifferent, and superficial.

As rough as the culture may appear, these individuals shine like diamonds, and their character has the power to illuminate, inspire, and reawaken society.

America must pause to reflect on the critical importance of character. We must also always appreciate the diamonds of moral decency that represent “the better angels of our nature.”

America’s Character Personified

Lt. Christopher Robateau, 49, Jersey City Police Department (JCPD): On Friday morning, January 5, 2018, Lt. Robateau died after being struck by a vehicle on the New Jersey Turnpike. Lt. Robateau, in full uniform, was on his way to work when he left his vehicle to check on the welfare of someone involved in an accident.

The JCPD Chief responded to this tragedy by stating, “Lt. Robateau’s instincts are always to help and save others and that’s what he was doing when he was struck.”

Lt. Robateau served the JCPD for 23 years. He is survived by his wife and three children.

On the Officer Down Memorial Page website that honors all law enforcement heroes, an outpouring of sympathy was expressed.

Perhaps these words from a retired JCPD colleague who served with Lt. Robateau can help to understand the pain of losing this great man:

“This is a tremendous loss to the JCPD family. Chris was a great cop, a better human being, a loving husband and father.”

Private First Class Emanuel Mensah, New York Army National Guard: On Dec. 28, 2017, Pfc. Emanuel Mensah was visiting home for the holidays after completing military training in Virginia. While home, he died in a massive fire at an apartment building in the Bronx after being credited with saving four lives.

He returned into the building to help save additional lives but was unable to escape the fire.

Mensah was a permanent legal resident, whose family immigrated to America from Ghana.

This heroic soldier will be posthumously awarded the Soldiers Medal – the Army’s highest award for heroism occurring outside of battle.

According to his recruiter, Staff Sgt. Reuben Martinez-Ortiz, Mensah represented the ideals of our armed forces.

“I knew from the moment I met him his heart was as big as our National Guard family,” Martinez-Ortiz said. “He was ready to serve our nation and community. Pfc. Mensah was the embodiment of what our Army Values stand for.”

2nd Lt. Alix Schoelcher Idrache: An official United States Military Academy (USMA) news release on Jul. 30, 2015 announcing leadership positions for cadets cited Idrache being appointed as the 1st Regimental Commander.

Lt. General Robert L. Caslen, Jr., the USMA superintendent stated in the announcement that all cadets being appointed, which included Idrache, “represent the best of all of us … as our mission here is to develop leaders of character.”

When the Haiti-born cadet cried while standing alongside over 950 of his classmates during his West Point graduation ceremony, the photo of his emotional outpouring went viral.

As a response to the photo, the statement Idrache released on Facebook captures the character that Lt. General Caslen referred to:

“I am from Haiti and never did I imagine that such honor would be one day bestowed on me. The second is where I am. Men and women who have preserved the very essence of the human condition stood in that position and took the same oath. Men who preserved the Union is a dark period of this country’s history. Men who scaled the face of adversity and liberated Europe from fascism and nazism. Women like CPT Griest, LT Haver, MAJ Jaster who rewrote the narrative and challenged the status quo to prove themselves worthy of being called Rangers.”

Speaking of his future, Idrache added:

“The third is my future. Shortly after leave, I will report to FT. Rucker to start flight school. Knowing that one day I will be a pilot is humbling beyond words. I could not help but be flooded with emotions knowing that I will be leading these men and women who are willing to give their all to preserve what we value as the American way of life. To me, that is the greatest honor. Once again, thank you.”

Final Reflections

Despite the challenges of our times, there are diamonds of character among us that represent the ideals of America.

May all of us be true to character as it is the virtue that will inspire the reawakening of the nation.

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 250 articles, including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing. As a national speaker, he has addressed audiences nationwide on issues critical to America including ethical leadership, violence prevention, and crisis planning.

Read More:

We the People Demand Character in American Government

The Personality of American Leadership

American Government Requires Ethical Leadership

America’s Corrupt Culture Beckons Ethical Renaissance

Photos:

1. Lt. Christopher Robateau, Jersey City Police Department. (Courtesy JCPD)

2. Private First Class Emanuel Mensah, New York Army National Guard. (Photo Credit New York Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion )

3. 2nd Lt. Alix Schoelcher Idrache cries during the United States Military Academy West Point Graduation, May 23, 2016. (Photo Credit U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Vito T. Bryant)

NYPD Neighborhood Policing Must Intensify as Crime Records Plunge

America would quickly decay into chaos, lawlessness, and anarchy without dedicated police protecting and serving our communities.

Yet, policing is inseparable from police-community partnerships. This unity of effort is essential to our way of life and we must be fully committed to enhancing this collaboration.

Every person privileged to call America home must be dedicated to police-community unity.

Our communities must intensify their commitment to the Nine Principles of American Policing to enhance trust between police and communities.

The first of these Nine Principles captures the heart of 21st century American policing:

“Being pro-police and pro-community are inseparable, indefatigable, and pre-eminent.”

The NYPD: America’s Largest Police Department

As detailed on the official New York City government website, “The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is the largest and one of the oldest municipal police departments in the United States, with approximately 36,000 officers and 18,000 civilian employees.

“The NYPD was established in 1845, and today, is responsible for policing an 8.5-million-person city, by performing a wide variety of public safety, law enforcement, traffic management, counterterror, and emergency response roles. In the past 25 years, the department has achieved spectacular declines in both violent and property crime, ensuring that New York City has the lowest overall rate of major crimes in the 25 largest cities in the country.”

NYPD Mission Requires Community Partnerships

The mission of the New York City Police Department is to “enhance the quality of life in New York City by working in partnership with the community to enforce the law, preserve peace, reduce fear, and maintain order. The Department is committed to accomplishing its mission of protecting the lives and property of all citizens of New York City by treating every citizen with compassion, courtesy, professionalism, and respect, while efficiently rendering police services and enforcing the laws impartially, by fighting crime both through deterrence and the relentless pursuit of criminals.”

To conduct this mission, the NYPD is comprised of enforcement, investigations, and administrative bureaus.

Throughout New York City, there are 77 precincts comprised of patrol officers and detectives. There are also 12 transit districts designed to protect nearly six-million daily subway patrons, as well as nine police service areas protecting over 400,000 public housing residents.

Police-Community Collaboration: Crime Plummets

As one born and raised in the Bronx, there is a profound appreciation for the plummeting crime reduction benchmarks taking place in New York City.

At the close of 2017, the NYPD cites preliminary statistics that are cause for all New Yorkers to appreciate, and for the nation to take notice.

These statistics are highlighted by the following:

• The first time the total number of index crimes has fallen below 100,000.
• The first time the number of shooting incidents has fallen below 800.
• The first time the total number of murders has fallen below 300. This reduction in murders has resulted in the lowest per-capita murder rate in nearly 70 years.

As a response to this extraordinary success, Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill captured the heart of Neighborhood Policing, which is critical to reducing crime through police-community partnerships.

O’Neill stated “Crime in New York City has reached a new low … the murder rate has not been lower since the Korean War … we will continue deepening relationships with the public, emphasizing the shared responsibility we have to our safety. I am confident we can do more. And we will.”

THE NYPD: A Recap

During the last five years, my articles for the Epoch Times have included policing as topics critical to America.

These articles have included many on the NYPD, which in my opinion is the world’s most renowned police department.

As we begin a new year, a reflection of some highlights from these articles is worthy of review, particularly since they stress principles complementary to Neighborhood Policing.

NYC Terror Incidents Demand Police-Community Unity, Dec. 13, 2107: “Our country’s dedication to a continual collaboration of our police and communities will be the heart of protecting New York City and our nation. This dedication is critical to safeguarding our way of life and deserves our full force dedication.”

Neighborhood Policing Illuminates NYPD Mission, Sept. 15, 2017: “The NYPD with its Neighborhood Policing program is contributing to the Reawakening of the Nation.

The program is reducing crime in New York City, and serves as a model for enhancing pro-police and pro-community partnerships nationwide.”

NYPD Leaders Exemplify Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect, Mar. 23, 2017: “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.

“O’Neill stressed that neighborhood-based policing demands more accountability from the officer. The officer not only develops partnerships with the community but assumes an ownership of responsibility.”

NYPD Counterterrorism: Protecting New York City, Nov. 17, 2016: “The NYPD is dedicated to protecting New York City but all of us must work together.

“This is our country and these are our communities that deserve security, safety, and protection.

“Each of us has a responsibility to have our eyes wide open, enhance our unity of effort, and to live by the mantra, “If you see something, say something.”

Precision Policing: Respecting Our Citizens’ Dignity, Aug. 18, 2016: “As witnessed with controversies, tensions, and problems throughout America, there is a clarion call to enhance police-community relations.

“America must rise to the occasion and ignite a 21st century policing mindset that is built on the pillars of trust, ethics, transparency, and accountability.

“When our nation dedicates itself to enhancing police-community partnerships, and is inspired by the qualities of leadership, vigilance, and collaboration, we will be on the path to reawakening the nation.”

NYPD Renaissance Cops: Safe and Fair Everywhere, Apr. 24, 2016: “The NYPD being the nation’s largest department and the world’s most renowned has the opportunity to revolutionize policing.”

Paris Terror, New Yorkers, and Vigilance, Apr. 24, 2016: “A complete dedication to protect and serve by the NYPD in collaboration with all people is mission critical. Each New Yorker shares the responsibility to exercise leadership, vigilance, and collaboration with the police.”

NYPD, Inspire America: Courtesy, Respect, Community, Jan. 2, 2015: “Policing is an honorable profession but the badge does not guarantee respect, it must be earned and maintained by ethical behavior.

“Police–community relations is the heart of community life. America must rise to the occasion through authentic, respectful actions, never through dishonorable behavior that only builds walls of distrust and contempt.”

NYPD Mission: Terminate, Train, Transform, Dec. 12, 2014: “Police–community cooperation is impossible without trust built on character, ethics, and leadership. These qualities are critical not only to the NYPD but also to police departments all over America.

“The NYPD must be a catalyst for transformation and play a critical role in reawakening the nation by enhancing police–community cooperation.”

Transforming the NYPD: Terminating Toxic Police Officers, Oct. 10, 2104: “The heart of sound law enforcement philosophy is based on the rock-solid Nine Principles of Policing by Sir Robert Peel.

“These principles are summarized by the saying “the police and the people are one” and the thought that effective policing mandates “pubic approval of police existence, actions and behavior.”

NYPD Culture Shift: Enhancing Community Partnerships, Sept. 19, 2014: “The ethical dimension of law enforcement is critical and must be the heart of every police officer.

“The NYPD will be organizationally transformative with building trust in communities when ethical development, accountability, and transparency are the heart of training initiatives.

“The results of the NYPD vision will be a high performance department that cultivates integrity, integrates public safety with citizen rights; enhances crime prevention, diversity, and mutual trust; and showcases the NYPD as a police-community model for reawakening the nation.”

NYPD Mission: Develop 35,000 Ethical Protectors, Aug. 1, 2014: “As the world’s most renowned law enforcement agency, the NYPD must rise to the occasion. Their development of enhanced training initiatives, including cultivating certified ethical protectors, community partnerships, public-private initiatives, and the timeless principles of Sir Robert Peel, are worthy of full-force dedication and will serve as a model to law enforcement agencies worldwide.”

NYPD SHIELD: America’s Public-Private Collaboration Model, Jul. 25, 2014: “This teamwork can be called collaboration, cooperation, or partnership but unequivocally it is a unity of effort between the public and private sector. This cohesiveness is essential for America’s security.”

The Police and The People: A Unity of Effort, Mar. 14, 2014: “A police department is most effective when dedicated to properly upholding community policing, which promotes a unity of effort between the police and the people. This collaboration is critical to New York City and to communities across the globe.”

Final Reflections

The NYPD, and all New Yorkers in collaboration with their efforts to protect and serve deserve praise for the reduction of crime in the city.

Yet, these are challenging times in New York and throughout America. We must continue to be vigilant and remain increasingly dedicated to a unity effort to protect our communities and cherished way of life.

Related Coverage:

The State of Policing in the United States: Issues and Response

21st Century America Requires Police–Community Unity

American Policing: Restoring Trust, Building Community

Police-Community Collaboration: America’s Public Safety Lifeline

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 250 articles, including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing. As a national speaker, he has addressed audiences nationwide on issues critical to America including ethical leadership, violence prevention, and crisis planning.

Photos:

1. NYPD officers interact with a community merchant. (Courtesy NYPD news)
2. NYPD conversing with commuter. (Courtesy NYPD news)

Honoring Our Fallen Police, Firefighters, Military

America must forever honor all of our fallen police, firefighters, and military.

These individuals who have offered the ultimate sacrifice protecting our communities and our nation deserve our eternal respect.

The clarion call of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg must be seared into the soul of each person privileged to call America home.

The Gettysburg address, written for the fallen military during the Civil War, is eternally applicable to all who protect and serve America:

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; 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.”

America’s Fallen Police: A Deadly 2017

According to statistics memorialized on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) the perils of law enforcement service continues.

Preliminary data compiled by the NLEOMF as of Dec. 28, 2017, cite 128 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2017.

Texas led the list of fatalities with 14, followed by New York and Florida, both with 9, and California with 7.

Forty-seven officers were killed in traffic-related incidents. Firearms-related fatalities were the second-leading cause with 44 officers shot and killed.

The remaining officers died as a result of causes including job-related cardiac events, drownings, being beaten to death, a helicopter crash, and as a result of an illness contracted during 9/11 rescue and recovery efforts.

Let us pause to solemnly honor some who have offered the ultimate sacrifice:

• Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Camilleri, California Highway Patrol, End of Watch (EOW): 12/24/2017: Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Camilleri was killed when his patrol car was struck from behind by an impaired driver.
• Police Officer Marcus McNeil, New Orleans Police Department, EOW: 10/13/2017: Police Officer Marcus McNeil was shot while investigating suspicious activity.
• Sergeant Meggan Lee Callahan, North Carolina Dept. of Public Safety-Division of Prisons EOW: 4/26/2017: Sergeant Meggan Lee Callahan was assaulted and killed by an inmate serving a life sentence for a previous murder.

National Fallen Firefighters Memorial

The dangers of serving America’s communities as a firefighter are enshrined on a wall of honor at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmetsburg, Maryland.

At this memorial is an eternal flame symbolizing the spirit of firefighters.

Plaques encircle the monument with the names of fallen firefighters.

The U.S. Fire Administration website documents the names of ninety-three firefighters killed in the line of duty in 2017.

One recent tragedy was Cory Iverson who died from burns and smoke on Dec. 16, 2017.

Iverson, a member of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s San Diego unit was fighting the Thomas Fire, one of the largest in California history.

This heroic firefighter is survived by his wife, a 2-year-old daughter, and another daughter on the way this spring.

Iverson’s tragedy is mystically connected with every fallen firefighter.

Aside from the tragedies such as Iverson’s inflicted upon the firefighter community, honor must be eternal for all involved with the 9/11 tragedy.

Although 343 firefighters died on that fateful day, the FDNY has lost over 150 additional firefighters.

These fallen “bravest of the brave” have died due to illnesses associated with fighting the fires and rescue operations at ground zero.

It is estimate that over 1,000 firefighters are now suffering from illnesses associated with 9/11.

America’s Fallen Military Heroes

Each year America honors our fallen military heroes on Memorial Day.

But the honor due to all fallen members of our armed forces must be forever seared into the soul of every American.

According to the Military Times website, some of our recently fallen military personnel, who along with fallen law enforcement and firefighters, represent the best of our nation, include the following:

• Army Sgt. 1st Class Stephen B. Cribben, Died November 4, 2017 Serving During Operation Freedom’s Sentinel: Cribben, 33, of Simi Valley, California, died Nov. 4 in Logar province, Afghanistan, as a result of wounds sustained while engaged in combat operations. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group.
• Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson, Died October 4, 2017 Serving During U.S. Africa Command Operations: Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Florida, died Oct. 4 in southwest Niger, as a result of enemy fire. He was assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The incident is under investigation.
• Army Staff Sgt Aaron R. Butler, Died August 16, 2017 Serving During Operation Freedom’s Sentinel: Butler, 27, of Monticello, Utah, died Aug. 16 in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations. He was assigned to the 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Camp Williams, Utah. The incident is under investigation.

Final Reflections

America’s heart must eternally reflect compassion, respect, and honor for all our fallen.

The call to serve America as an ethical protector through the sacrosanct police, firefighter, and military professions deserves our nation’s perpetual honor.

There is a mystical unity with all who have offered the ultimate sacrifice for America, and all who honor their memory in their souls.

All who serve America, and especially those who have offered the ultimate sacrifice represent the character of our great nation.

May all of our fallen be eternally honored for each of them epitomize the immortal words that “there is no greater love than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Read More:

Fallen Officers Demand America’s Compassion, Vigilance, Unity

America’s Fallen Military Deserve Eternal Honor

National Police Week: Honoring Ethical Protectors

Gold Star Families: Honoring Those Who Make the Ultimate Sacrifice

Note Well:

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Vincent is author of 250 articles, including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing. As a national speaker, he has addressed audiences nationwide on issues critical to America including ethical leadership, violence prevention, and crisis planning.

Photos:

1. An NYPD Sergeant at prayer in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Brooklyn on June 26, 2017. A memorial mass was held honoring NYPD Transit Bureau officers who died in the line of duty. NYPD executives, members of the Transit Bureau, and loved ones gathered to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. The names of 36 fallen officers were read during the mass as attendees prayed for their families. All of the most recent officers being recognized died due to illnesses contracted while working at Ground Zero. (Courtesy NYPD news)

2. FDNY honoring the 343 fallen firefighters who perished during 9/11, Veterans Day Parade, Fifth Avenue, NYC, Nov. 12, 2011. (Vincent J. Bove)

3. Interment Ceremony procession of Lt. Mark H. Dooley at his final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery on July 13, 2007. (Vincent J. Bove)