Opuscula Failed PROMISE

BETWEEN CROWDED JAILS AND failure to enforce a mollycoddle program, 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.

According to several media outlets, “alleged” murderer Nikolas Cruz had, following several run-ins with authorities, been ordered into a THREE DAY program aimed at steering children away from the criminal justice system. Cruz failed to complete the three-day diversion program as a middle school student, yet nothing seems to have been done.¹

The PROMISE program was aimed at reducing recidivism rates for students who commit non-violent misdemeanors and keeping them out of the juvenile justice system. The program helps students develop pro-social and resiliency skills, improve academics and may address family and community struggles that may be contributing to behavior issues, according to the school district's website.

The Obama-era program is sponsored by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (https://www.nimhd.nih.gov/).²

As information continues to come out, it appears that over and over and over yet again Cruz was identified as a person with mental health “issues.”

For some reason, Cruz “fell through the cracks.”

Florida agencies failed to act.

The local school administration – at both county and school level – failed to act.

Even the FBI admitted it “missed” a mass of information about the person accused of murdering 17 people at the school and calmly walking away.

This “it fell through the cracks” excuse seems to becoming commonplace.

Rather than incarcerate known threats to the community, the threats are shunted off to “programs” where they are mollycoddled.

Cruz didn’t even see time in a juvenile “boot camp” that has a pretty good track record of disabusing youth that crime pays.

He was diverted into a program designed strictly for African American young men. The program apparently was broadened to include all races when it was implemented in Broward County.

According to American conservative television and radio talk show host Laura Ingraham³,

An initiative called the 'PROMISE Program' that reduced the number of school-related arrests in Broward County Public Schools. In 2011-2012, BCPS had the highest number of student arrests in Florida, but after the superintendent implemented the program, arrests plummeted.

PROMISE gave school administrators the power to decide whether infractions were deemed worthy of involving the policy rather than following guidelines that were previously in place. PROMISE stands for 'Preventing Recidivism through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education.'

The program was praised by the Obama administration and the school district was awarded $54 million in grants from the $4 billion 'Race to the Top' initiative.

PROMISE turns school administrators into both judge and jury and encourages diversion to the program rather than involving law enforcement and mental health professionals.

In the “old days” in Florida, many children ruled “delinquent” for non-violent behavior were turned over to probation officers who worked with the offender. Failure to show up for a session with the probation officer could cause revocation of the “privilege” and a stint at a juvenile detention center (that usually was over crowded). Unlike the PROMISE program as it is implemented in Broward County, failure to comply with the rules quickly raised a red flag and resulted in swift action.

Ingraham commented that

PROMISE gave school administrators the power to decide whether infractions were deemed worthy of involving the policy rather than following guidelines that were previously in place. PROMISE stands for 'Preventing Recidivism through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education.'

The infractions that the 'PROMISE Program' prevented police from getting involved in: Alcohol-related incidents, assault, threat, bullying, disruption on campus, drug use, possession, under the influence, drug paraphernalia, possession, false accusation against school staff, fighting, mutual combat, harassment, thefts, trespassing, vandalism and damage to property.

According to a pamphlet by BCPS, the 'Promise Program' was implemented in an effort to "eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline."

Arrests went from 1,056 students in 2011-2012 to 392 in the 2015-2016 school year.

The Obama Administration Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder were so impressed by the PROMISE Plan that it inspired their own new national guidelines.

Holder hailed the program for discarding "unnecessarily harsh discipline policies" for "really minor infractions" that led students to "feel unwelcome."

"Too often, so-called zero-tolerance policies, however well-intentioned they might be, make students feel unwelcome in their own schools. They disrupt the learning process, and they can have significant and lasting negative effects on the long-term well-being of our young people," Holder said.

Really “minor” infractions”?

Tell that to the kids who are bullied.

Tell that to the teachers who are harassed.

Tell that to the taxpayers who have to repair or replace items damaged by vandals.

Apparently, PROMISE is not concerned with cumulative evidence of a person’s mental health.

In Cruz’ case, he had a long history of “minor infractions.”

He had been diverted to a special school, but there is no evidence he got help with his problems.

Is it safe to suggest that the Broward County school system must share blame for the deaths of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School?

Had Cruz been “diverted” to a detention facility and obliged to undergo treatment for his mental conditions, 17 people might be alive today.

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Sources

1. http://tinyurl.com/y9qkakwe

2. http://tinyurl.com/y7kv4xpc

3. http://tinyurl.com/y7j2mr6g

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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Opuscula Six last words On gun control

1. ENFORCE EXISTING LAWS

2. COMMUNICATE AMONG AGENCIES

Simple.

There ARE laws that

a. Had they been enforced and b. Had the involved agencies communicated with each other

MIGHT have prevented the shooting in Parkland FL.

The Gary Varvel cartoon, above, points all the fingers at the FBI.

But the FBI is not the only organization that should be criticized.

Add to the list, including – but probably not limited to –

county school system local law enforcement and courts state Department of Children & Families (DCF)

The alleged shooter's parents are dead. He had been taken in by a schoolmate’s family only a few weeks previously. Could the parents, when they were alive, done anything, seen a pattern of violence developing in their son? Now it’s a question that never will be answered.

If half of the comments about the “alleged” shooter are true, then, under Florida law¹, he could not legally own a firearm – not a rifle and not a pistol.

One of the young adult’s crimes, having a firearm on school property, is a third degree felony in Florida.

According to the Florida Gun Charges and Penalties web site²,

Possessing or discharging a weapon at a school-sponsored event means that the defendant exhibited a dangerous weapon or firearm in a rude, careless, angry, or threatening manner, in the presence of at least one person, at a school sponsored event or on the grounds of a school. This crime is a felony of the third degree, punishable by up to 5 years in prison, up to 5 years of probation, and up to $5,000 in fines. A claim of self-defense is also a defense to this charge. (Emphasis mine)

The problem is, was the person (a) arrested and (b) convicted.

If there was a conviction, then Florida law is very clear. A convicted felon is barred from owning a firearm (and several other weapons, including stun guns).

It is not sufficient that a person be arrested and convicted of a felony, the information must be provided to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The FDLE is supposed to review all gun purchasers’ backgrounds.

Granted, there is no waiting period to buy a long gun (rifle, shotgun) in Florida. There is a three-day waiting period for pistols. Despite being able to walk out with a long gun, it still can be confiscated by law enforcement at any time.

Even if adjudication is withheld, Florida law still would prevent the shooter’s gun ownership: Adjudicated delinquent or received adjudication withheld as a juvenile for a felony charge and person is under the age of 24.

Apparently DCF, which has a history with the 19-year-old, felt he was mentally competent. State law would have prevented gun ownership had DCF taken court action (Adjudicated mentally defective or involuntarily committed by a judge ).

The Broward County school system apparently did nothing but shuffle the now 19-year-old from school to school. He recently was expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where the shooting took place, and transferred to an alternative school.

The FBI, by its own admission, failed to act.

However, as one person on the Varvel site³ commented,

Why didn’t the FBI arrest him before the shootings? Because he hadn’t broken the law yet. Were there ways that he could have been stopped beforehand? Yes, but Conservative lawmakers claim that ANY of those ways infringes on the rights of Law Abiding Citizens.

The comment is wrong on several counts: the shooter HAD broken the law by previously bringing a weapon to a school, and while many Conservatives are reluctant to violate the Second Amendment, it is more likely that the leftists and ACLU would have rushed to the person’s defense if his gun ownership was challenged. It’s a crazy world.

Had the juvenile authorities – from the police to the courts – done their job and communicated with the FDLE, the shooting might have been prevented.

Had the FBI shared its information with the local office, AND had the FBI shared this information with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office (which provides police services to Parkland), and the Broward County School system, the shooting might have been prevented.

There is no need for new laws.

There is nothing the nation’s president can do (even when a high school kid tells reporters “We’re not going to him, he has to come to us” – a bit of chutzpah). He could, of course, issue an executive order, but it probably would be quickly overturned by the judiciary as his previous executive orders have been overturned.

The AR-15 used in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was a semi-automatic – not an “assault rifle” that may be fired single shot (as the shooter’s gun), in three-shot “automatic” mode, or in full automatic mode – that could be used as a hunting rifle. “Semi-automatic” simply means that cartridges are stored in a magazine that pushes a new cartridge into the chamber when the chamber is empty. Fully automatic weapons are illegal for private ownership in the U.S.

If any new law might be in order, its a limit on the number of cartridges a magazine can hold. In the Parkland case, the shooter is said to have had a number of low capacity magazines. California already has a 10-round magazine maximum.

BOTTOM LINE

Rather than new laws, enforce the ones already on the books and insist that law enforcement and related agencies (e.g., DCF and similar and school systems) SHARE THEIR INFORMATION.

9-11 (2001) happened largely because the FBI failed to share information WITHIN ITS OWN ORGANIZATION as well as local law enforcement. Apparently 9-11 was a lesson NOT learned by the FBI.

What could the president do? Fire the FBI director? He’s already fired one. The problem within the FBI is at the rank and file level. Directors believe they direct, but local office bosses control what the agents do – or don’t do.

As with the U.S. State Department, presidents, directors, and department secretaries are too far removed from the trenches to have much influence.

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1. http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/FPP/FAQs2.aspx

2. http://tinyurl.com/y9xunzpe

3. http://www.gocomics.com/garyvarvel

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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