Posted on 02/20/2018 6:55:37 AM PST by Kaslin
Reaction to the latest school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead and many more wounded begins at the wrong end. It's not about passing more gun laws, which people intent on breaking existing laws will not obey; rather it is about heeding warning signs and doing something before it is too late.
In the case of 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, who has been charged with premeditated murder, the signs were like a flashing red light. Former classmates offered a profile in danger to the media. They called Cruz, who had been expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons, a "loner" and "weird."
In a YouTube video by someone named Nikolas Cruz there is this comment: "I'm going to be a professional school shooter." Law enforcement reportedly flagged the comment last September and YouTube removed it.
With all of these previews of coming destruction, why wasn't any action taken? Could Cruz have been helped? He was reportedly receiving "mental counseling," but clearly it was not enough to prevent this tragedy. Cruz is reportedly an orphan, but was there no one close to him who might have been helpful to him?
We are constantly told by law enforcement, "If you see something, say something." With Cruz there was plenty to see and also plenty to say. Did anyone speak up? The Florida campus reportedly had an armed officer onsite, though this officer never encountered Cruz during the shooting. Could there have been a quicker response? Could anyone have acted pre-emptively to force Cruz to get some help? Could he have been committed to a mental health facility for his own protection, and for the protection of others?
Metal detectors, armed guards and security passes for students, staff and teachers have all been proposed and in some cases tried as ways to discourage shooters from entering schools where unarmed students are trapped like fish in a barrel. School shooters and terrorists (and this was an act of terror no matter the motive) look for soft targets and there are few targets softer than a school full of kids.
Lawmakers in Florida and in Congress need to consider legislation that would give mental health professionals a way to intervene in cases of disturbed individuals who need psychological help, but aren't getting it. For those who seem most dangerous -- like Cruz -- perhaps laws could be enacted that would forcibly commit them to treatment, thereby cutting down on the number of mass shootings.
Social workers can intervene on behalf of young children they believe are being abused or neglected. In extreme cases, they can even remove the child from its home if the child is in need of protection. Could something like this be done with the mentally disturbed, without violating their constitutional rights? Don't we have the constitutional right to live free of the threat of mass shootings? Shouldn't the rights of the innocent be paramount?
To paraphrase a certain commercial about identity theft, no law can prevent all mass murder, or someone acquiring a gun, legally or illegally (Cruz's AR-15 was apparently legally acquired), but the mayor of Broward County, Florida, Beam Furr, told the Miami Herald the shooting could have been prevented. "We missed the signs," said Furr, a former teacher, adding, "We should have seen some of the signs."
The signs were there for everyone to see. The problem with this shooting, as well as all the others, was the refusal to act. Action just might have prevented this tragedy.
Spread it far and wide...
Did Seth Rich have warning signs about how the Clintons operate? Was Donna Brazile shaken to her core for the same thing? America saw something and DID something by keeping the Clintons out of office.
“The Florida campus reportedly had an armed officer onsite, though this officer never encountered Cruz during the shooting.”
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If he were unarmed, he would have just been another victim if he had run into the shooter.
Surely the Parkland school wanted to discipline Cruz. However, their hands were tied by the district’s asinine policy.
Victims and their families should be outraged at their school’s discipline code and preparing to sue the BC School board and Sheriff’s office for this collaboration. Nikolas Cruz was never busted at school because of the 2013 NAACP collaborative discipline policy:
Broward County’s School Discipline ‘Agreement” signed by the Sheriff, State Atty and local judges. Its purpose is to keep minority juvenile delinquents out of prison by NOT enforcing Florida state laws in schools.
These various behaviors will NOT result in suspension or expulsion or notification to the police. Instead they receive warnings, lectures and possible stern scolding!
The infractions include -All student misbehavior and these non-violent infractions:
Disrupting or Interfering with class
Affray - fighting in a public place
Theft if less than $300
Vandalism damages < $1,000
Disorderly conduct
Trespassing, Loitering or Prowling
Criminal Mischief
Gambling
Harrassment or Threats
Alcohol -all related offenses
Possession of Cannabis
Drug Paraphernalia
Obstructing Justice w/out Violence
“Go ahead kids. Smoke pot, booze it up, fight, THREATEN a teacher and tear the bloody place up! The NAACP & Broward County got your back. Since your family has failed to discipline, a sanctuary law-breaking program shields you at your school.”
Broward County (Parkland school district), used to lead the state in sending students to the juvenile justice system.
The perfect progressive solution? “artificially lower arrest stats by NOT making arrests.”
Pressure came from “multiple sources: reduce the “racist” disparity of serial black and Hispanic arrests and almost non-existent white and Asian student arrests.
Sure, 17 kids died.....but the most important thing is liberals still “feel good” about themselves.
Could think the whole act is largely ignored as far as anything effective coming out of it, YET!
Not mentioning any names.
In this case, the shooter sent plenty of signals, many of which should have been caught. But generally out of a population of 330 million, about a half dozen mental cases per year become mass murderers.
How the hell do you predict which of those few will twist off?
Sure, 17 kids died.....but the most important thing is liberals still “feel good” about themselves.
So true. They dont want to look at Chicago with tough gun laws and the numbers of people shot daily there....
Also they disregard that its the tortured mind that pulls the trigger and not the weapon that causes one to commit this type of act....
Politicians will say the right things to look like they did something, but they know the real issue is taking action when advised and allowing schools , like malls etc to have armed guards as one potential deterrent to this type of act.
“Disrupting or Interfering with class
Affray - fighting in a public place”
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I can see possible expulsion for these two, but not calling in the cops, unless someone gets badly hurt. There will always be class clowns and schoolyard fights.
More guns is definitely the answer......open/carry.
I am a retired teacher and a current substitute teacher, I am a licensed Concealed Carry.
It pisses my off when I have to leave CCW at home when going to a school job, I can’t even lock it my car.(no weapons on school property)
Has the FBI announced a task force to address this problem?
It seems to me that they should convene one ASAP.
Establish a national team to assess these threats with authority to direct field offices and/or local public safety to follow up.
Look for patterns, focus on understanding root causes and don’t let this ongoing problem fall into the cracks...until the next shooting.
They need to get new laws that expand gun-ownership pronto........not stand around and moan and groan about the NRA and savvy gun-owners.
Hmmm...
Gunny G: In My Opinion, This Latest Fla School Shooting and How POTUS.45 Has Handled/NOT Handled It Has Great Potential To Cause Even HardCore TRUMP SUPPORTERS To ReThink Their Opinion!
On the other hand, what choice is open to us?
There IS Nobody Else!
This is the best meme/graphic I’ve seen on this tragedy yet! I’ve seen calls for gun control, calls for better mental health service, calls to bring God back into schools, and calls for parents to parent better.
The calls for better parenting frustrate me. From everything I’ve read, this guy’s parents were older when they adopted him and his brother. Who knows if their bio-parents were mentally healthy or did things that damaged the boys while pregnant? Their dad died ten years ago. So they were being raised by an older, widowed lady. That is not ideal, especially for a boy, but not really “poor” parenting.
She was obviously having trouble, needed help, and was reaching out for it by calling the police. I mean, an older woman against one or two younger, stronger males isn’t likely to win!
She called the police over and over.. and that’s where the ball was dropped as far as I’m concerned. That’s where we need to start looking at what changes to laws should be made, if any. An obvious one, to me, is to repeal the school district policy and inform the police/mental health professionals about the problems at school. Those issues, in addition to the numerous calls to police from his home should have resulted in something happening long, long ago!
Police shouldnt come to your house 30+ times, or 20+ times. After 5 or 10 times, that’s all the signs you need! “Incorrigible” used to be a thing, right? I say we bring it back!
Social workers?? Wasn’t it FL, not too long ago, busted for CHS agents faking reports (never showing up/checking up on the child(ren)), ‘losing’ children in the system, etc.??
Now, we’re going to bloat the ‘educational’ staff w/ social workers, psychiatrists (there’s a ‘voodoo science’ if there ever was one), and ‘grief-counselors’ *rolls eyes*
Sh!t, always the ‘symptoms’, never the root. Guess that should be expected of govt and Leftist ‘solutions’.
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“The Florida campus reportedly had an armed officer onsite, though this officer never encountered Cruz during the shooting.”
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If he were unarmed, he would have just been another victim if he had run into the shooter.
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I have, as of yet, not read\heard ANYTHING about the ‘security’ guard\officer\etc.
- How many?
- Where was he at the time of the incident?
- How long did it take him to respond to the incident?
- Did he have a weapon on the premises? Where (on body, in locker, main office, etc.?)?
- Did anyone ELSE have access to said weapon? (IE: faculty closer and able to utilize)?
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