Making our Schools Safe Again ~

Making our Schools Safe Again

By Carl R. ToersBijns

 

There is an inherent desire to make our kids safe again in their schools. We have to look closely at what we need to do to return the normalcy that existed before the mass shootings that have spread across this nation puts a grip of fear into all of us creating havoc and poor plans to prevent this from happening again anywhere USA.

First we know this to be a severe condition aka lack of school security for the protection of our kids; something that won’t disappear or go away for quite some time.

Second we must identify all the symptoms related to the condition at hand and start a cycle of action and proactive planning to foster positive things back into our schools e.g. regenerating trust and calmness back into our schools.

Thirdly we must all work together to eliminate waste of resources and time and prioritize the energy and resources so that it will heal the not only the quickest but also the best way in the long run.

Fourth we must allow a “natural” condition to re-develop and aid in reformed thinking and emotions so we can unlock the anger, the sorrow and the pain that is present today.

For many parents and children the pain and sorrow may never go away but we must be reminded that the pain and sorrow is often more intense during the healing process than of the condition at hand.

We must avoid shutting down our common sense and our senses that control us physically, mentally and spiritually to maintain progress fighting this condition.

There needs to be a method developed to infuse beneficial and productive resources to allow the healing process to accelerate and at the same time reduce the side effects of the emotion and mental anguish we are all experiencing. There is no magic pill or solution to this matter.

With each infusion of positive and proactive achievement, we will improve the condition but it takes time and more resources to heal it completely. Removing or stopping these infusions of vital resources will allow the condition to reappear and become chronically worst.

This can’t be a temporary fix or act but rather a long range planned method of keeping the condition from redeveloping somewhere else or stagnates into another crisis.

We must endure conflict, controversy, and other crisis before the system can become balanced and safe again.

We must work with the expectation of teamwork and focus on defeating this condition to the point it won’t or can’t reappear and cause the pain and sorrow all over again.

Symptoms found in a preliminary finding are:

 

• a neglected school system and lack of government activity or support to maintain them at the highest efficiency levels possible to enhance learning and protect kids
• political apathy for the school system before mass shooting occurred.
• lack of adequate resource officers inside schools due to funding or other political decisions to cut funding
• lack of adequate physical plant precautions to avoid forced entry into school grounds
• too many gaps and loopholes in the firearms background checks in the state
• too many gaps between court reported mental illness on docket not reported to NCIS thus allowing firearms in the possession of those not eligible by federal law to possess them because of mental illness related illness that disqualifies them as gun buyers
• lack of communication between mental health providers and law enforcement
• lack of treatment alternatives for those with learning disabilities and illnesses throwing them into the criminal justice system without treatment or programs

I am sure there are more symptoms as there is no cure-all solution. This condition will have to heal under strict observation and management of professionals not politicians trained and skilled in the art of reviving poorly maintained security in such places as our schools and do so with the utmost cooperation of those in charge of public safety as well as providing adequate funding for public safety.

Going Rogue ~ what does it mean?

What Does Going Rogue Mean?

By Carl R. ToersBijns

There appears to be many different definitions for this word “rogue” that is often thrown around in the media or the workplace during conversations regarding the actions or positions taken by another person. It seems when you look up the word in the dictionary, there is not one firm characterization provided for thus a word thus this must be a most misunderstood word thus it is time we look at how it fits in our world.

Going rogue can mean you are acting on your own and acting contrary to personal or professional expectations or the “normal” societal values within a certain political organization or persons. It can also mean you are pursuing your own interests and not of those you are or were associated with most of the time either in service or employment.

Whether you are going rogue or thinking about becoming a “rogue” person there are heavy consequences for taking such a stand depending what it is you are challenging, contradicting, speaking out against or the temperament of the culture you chose to antagonize or oppose. It has been recorded that some rogue leaders or persons have been killed for speaking out their mind and writing the things that may contradict the ideas, thoughts or laws of those that oppose such ways.

Going rogue carries with it no value or valor. It does not create heroes or martyrs as it is a non-popular position to be in. You are viewed as disgruntled person or employee, a whistleblower or worst, a snitch of the culture you oppose. Therefore, it carries with it sanctions that are politically and personally severe that includes banishment or expulsion from the group you belong to as well as character assassinations to defame or slander your credibility or reputation you may have worked decades for to establish.

It may mean you have chosen to stop following orders that requires silence on matters that may be criminal or at the very least unethical in nature and allows such misconduct to remain secret and hidden from the truth or the truth seekers. Going rogue poses a threat to some and enhances the opportunities for others. It depends on how the information provided aids or impacts the disposition of the matters discussed or deposed either to the media or inside a courtroom.

Going rogue does not mean you are a bad person or committing an act that is a sin. It does mean you [or a group that has departed together bound by common cause] are going against the politically correct flow and creating ripples in the water that is preferred by many to remain still and calm without someone stirring it up making muddy waters.

So whether you are walking alone or united for a common cause, going rogue means you are in a position that is creating conflict and sometimes, aggression against the very culture you are criticizing or a former member of but drifted from their same principles and ideas going instead the other way based on your own moral compass, ethics or ideas. 

December 26, 2012

The Devil's Pocket

Serving Time in the Devil’s Pocket

The good, the bad, the ugly

By Carl R. ToersBijns

 

 

You must be wondering where is this place we call the Devil’s Pocket and where does it stand in the state of Arizona? To even attempt to try to explain this concept in layman terms can best be said that this place can best be described as an evil paranormal and supernatural razor wire concrete steel-filled world where the bold and the bad live in camaraderie with the devil’ ways.

An evil way of life best said to signify tyranny, corruption and the unending and most challenging unnatural partnership between the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Devil’s pocket is what the Arizona prison system is and became since the governor and the majority of legislators began to ignore the civil rights and standards of those imprisoned and under their legal and moral custodial care that is required by the rule of law for incarcerated persons.

It begun with the appointment of a man known to be the Devil’s advocate who spent his time in another devil’s pocket called Abu Ghraib.

This man was hired on by the governor of our state and recommended by many for the purpose of instilling justice in our prison systems and who with a swift stroke of the tainted and malevolent pen, turned justice into vengeance. Nothing irreverent was forced upon him.

He did this all by himself and with a little help of his henchmen and evil minded conspirators that have served him in the past.  He became the center of what was to be a desultory way to run prisons and harm those inside with harsh and toxic methods that destroys even the strongest soul that lives there.

Maintaining tight controls of the helm, he steered this evil vessel into the darkness where no light can reach the truth and no man can live beyond the capabilities of being supernatural in strength and fear.

There is no presence of religious scruples or moral compass guidance tools as the methods directed are deemed to be stupid, cynical and most harmful to the human mind. He has not yet been held culpable or accountable for all the tragedies, atrocities or misfortunes to date and it seems that his absolute power has silenced those voices who fear to speak out against him about the evilness and suffering souls under his thumb of power.

It is here where the good suffer the most. They must live and survive under the wrath of hate and fear imposed by their leader who has a mindset of the devil himself. He has boldly stated that a man is but a man and not one without a heart or mind. He has no face and carries with him no value of concern or worries. 

He reinforces the mindset with his belief that a man without a heart or mind and who carries no face is a dead man thus therefore does not exist. His voice whispers into selected ears and calls out the weak to join him in his venture. He carries with him a sharp sword to divide and conquer those that oppose him and cuts them down like a dagger in the heart. He cares not about age, race or religion. He worries not about the consequences as he destroys the souls of men by treating them with indignity and animal like behaviors.

There are basically two kinds of good people inside the devil’s pocket. Those that are good hearted and faithful to their ethical and moral compass and those that know the morality of life but are too weak to overcome the challenge to join the good-hearted for a triumphant victory over evil.

The good run the risk of losing good relationships with family, friends and team members due to the cutting of this evil man. They are double crossed and left for dead as they work for the devil’s right hand man that understands nothing about humanity and respect.  The good know very well this creature rarely misses his targets and find it hard to understand why he was chosen to be a leader when all that is important to him is power and greed and the glory.

Wretchedly the good also know that inside this Devil’s pocket, God is not on their side as this leader preaches hate and contempt as he finds other men to follow his paths of glory.  The good might as well save their breath until this leader is gone as they cannot manage resistance against his power. He manages it so tightly that if you oppose it, even merely in silent thoughts, he finds you out and after that you may surely die slowly, very slowly.

His wickedness makes you think and wonder if you truly know who you are and what your job is here where reality exists. He wants to confuse you and everybody around you. He is the son of the devil and the score of men that are bastards like him and that follow his every wish and desire unconditionally.

There are basically two kinds of bad people inside the devil’s pocket; there are those in powerful positions that use their power to punish the good and those in roles empowered by those in power to further inflict deeper wounds into the goodness of people.

The bad are those wicked enough to join him in his capture of souls and the minds of men. They have chosen sides with the son of the devil as they believe that by following him, they too will reap the benefits of evil and power. They are in every sense disciples of doom and darkness carrying out those tasks that bring hate and deception to those they offend and pretend to be friends with as they seek out the good and manipulate a way to slay them.

You see in this devil’s pocket there are three kinds of people in the power structure; those in power [bad] and those that are subordinates [good[ and follow and those that prey on death and destruction [ugly]. In this supernatural place there are many followers that are both good and bad.

There are basically two kinds of bad people that exist inside the devil’s pocket; those that are ill experienced and temperamental and those who blindly mimic evil ways to satisfy their sadistic souls.

Basically, the bad are idiots and often confused themselves as they have not the power to think for themselves and are spoon fed every dose of evil the leader can muster for every task at hand. On must wonder what the leader pays them with and how does he make sure they follow his every whim and desire. He pays them with gold and silver. He pays them with glory and power and leaves them the wealth long after he leaves hoping they will carry on his work and evil. He pays them with positional supremacy over others and gives them the authority to bid his wishes.

The ugly know what time it is inside this devil’s pocket. They know how to live in war-like conditions and understand that conflict is the way of life to survive. They are prey and predators at the same time depending on their role. They are either the tormentor or the tormented decided on their strength and desire to live and let live.  There is no use to try to have the ugly listen to what is to be said inside such a man made hell-hole. They know nothing and think they know everything there is to know.

There are two kinds of ugly people inside prisons; one that open the door and those that close the doors.

These doors are entries into hell and brimstone and are rarely forgotten to exist.   Ugly people are the Judas of the bunch. They hide and steal and take what is not chained down or left behind.  They are the bounty hunters of opportunity doing time and strip away a man’s dignity with the motive to collect the reward for doing so by those that open and close the doors to hell. These people do not shudder at death or misery but rather compliment the gory with the glory of being one of the ugliest ones there. They embrace violence and evil with a kiss of death for those that oppose them that includes even their own.

They believe they will inherit the Earth and feel that by harming those that are good will fulfill their social obligations to spend the rest of their time in the good graces of the Devil himself. The ugly battle the good in bloody battles for control of the environment and of the minds. They act like robots with desire to destroy humanity and annihilation of those that carry the goodness inside. Sometimes they join forces with the bad to achieve higher expectations of power and surpass even the ugliest of their peers.

There is an extreme prejudice against the good one that exceeds the normal limits of evilness as they fear the good will screw with their minds and make them weak at heart and vulnerable to changing their ways of thinking.

Strangely enough they worry more about the good people than the bad as they are plagued with the idea of being human again and do the things that are contrary to the Devil’s ways making them vulnerable and at the mercy of those who are bad.

They worry more about the good than the bad because they fear evolutionary thinking more than revolutionary behavior. They fear the “halo effect” and the damage it would do in their reputation and behavior among their ugliest of peers that insist that ugliness takes precedence over either the good or bad that exist there inside the devil’s pocket. 

Therefore they worship the bad for their similar qualities and assume that their common bond is potential for future successes in their way of life inside this man made hell.

December 24, 2012

Will Arizona Prisons sustain budget cuts?

Will Arizona Prisons sustain budget cuts?

By Carl R. ToersBijns

The Arizona governor and state legislature will have some tough choices to make this coming session regarding budget cuts and contingency plans for their operating funding costs. It is likely that the big bus of the Corrections Department will have to take some of those cuts and rely on operating their prisons with a reduction in staff and other resources.

Although any closures of prisons is not likely to happen as it is in other states, there will be a big change how they will have to operate them and endure the entire fiscal year on less money than last year or the year before. It will depend on how deep the cuts are and what has to be cut back in order to meet allocations and expectations.

Although it may seem premature, it is likely that at this moment, based on feedback from the governor’s office and key legislators, initial budget scenarios are being developed as well as revised staffing patterns based on prison population projections and other anticipated needs. 

 

The agency will address attrition rates, pending retirements, freeze hiring and maintain a strategy for vacancy savings for the entire fiscal year leaving staff pretty much with what is left over after these employees leave state service. If the past is an indication of the future, disciplinary actions will increase and probation periods will be used to lay off officers before they reach their permanent status and termination will be used as a management tool to reduce staffing patterns and personnel.

The director and his staff will submit various formats of scenarios that will allow the governor’s staff and legislative members a good peek at what the bottom line is and how deep a cut the agency can survive without compromising public safety. The main concerns are three fold; personnel and benefits, medical costs and other fixed expenses related to prison capacity and population needs.

Perhaps there will be a shift in priorities and the director will re-allocate more resources towards new or existing community corrections programming that are less costly and easier to manage.  They will have to focus on reducing their enormous water and electric utility bills and implement other waste reduction methods to acquire a better handle on the costs of food and clothing, cable services, and other costs that may be considered either frivolous or unnecessary for prisons to have.

The director will likely increase the number of low custody level prison work details outside the prisons and into the communities to acquire shared funding for operating such mutual government agreements that include inmate work details for county and municipal government agencies and related public services.  This is a viable avenue for the agency but will require the mutual agencies to provide the supervision and transport costs in order to be eligible for such inmate services within their community and local government public works.

Perhaps for once in the last five years, there will be a serious focus on recidivism and manage it more effectively so that the prison population may indeed be reduced and the incident of repeat offenders coming back into prisons be reduced by looking at those technical violators a little closer and continue their parole time in the community corrections programs rather than paying a premium price for a bed inside the prisons.

You more than will likely see a consolidation plan with the private prison contractors for transferring some of the state’s secondary custodial roles to the private prisons to save money and reduce staffing costs. This would also cancel or reduce some of the private vendor contracts the state currently has to keep essential services going but at a cost that can be done cheaper if absorbed in the consolidation plan.

December 23, 2012

Gun Gaps, Mental Health & Public Safety

Mental Health and Gun Background Checks

By Carl R. ToersBijns

 

Many states are researching the need to share mental health records in a better manner than it is being done today. Every time there is a mass shooting, it is revealed the shooter has experienced mental health issues that may have prevented the shooter from buying a firearm if the background check was done in an appropriate manner. This is only one element of problem but it needs to be addressed at the local and federal levels.

According to a news story in the Main newspaper Sun Journal, that state has a horrendous record of maintaining mental health records for such a purpose. It is likely that you will find this symptom occur in many other states as it reveals a serious breakdown or linkage in sharing important information that could prevent some of the tragedies occurring today.

Staff writer Bonnie Washuk writes “When it comes to sharing mental health records with safety officials for gun background checks, Maine is among the worst performing states, according to a national group promoting gun control.” She refers to a report that reveals how the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is flawed because of submissions omitted or lacking to make the process work better.

Ms. Washuk adds “Under existing laws, the Maine court system is required to send mental health records to the Maine Department of Public Safety, then to the federal NICS, in three cases: When the court has involuntarily committed a mentally ill person, when a person has committed a crime and been found not responsible because of mental illness, and when the court finds a person not competent to stand trial.”

In their report, the Mayors Against Illegal Guns report “August 16, 2012 - Mayors Against Illegal Guns has launched an interactive map showing how many mental health records each state has submitted to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), and comparing this performance with the best-performing states.

Based on new FBI data updating the coalition's November 2011 Fatal Gaps[1] report, the map shows that 21 states have each submitted fewer than 100 records. The report writes “Since its creation in 1999, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) has blocked more than 1.6 million permit applications and gun sales to felons, the seriously mentally ill, drug abusers and other dangerous people who are prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms.”

“Completing the necessary paperwork for a background check takes a gun buyer mere minutes, and more than 91 percent of these electronic screens are completed instantaneously. And, amidst a polarized national debate about gun control, the background check system enjoys nearly universal public support. Despite its relative success, NICS has serious gaps and limitations that still allow firearms to be sold to dangerous people, including some of the nation’s worst mass murderers.”

But, for complex legal and logistical reasons discussed in this report, records about the kinds of serious mental health and drug abuse problems that disqualify people from gun ownership have proven more difficult to capture.

Arizona legislators need to assure that there are no barriers within existing laws that prevent the transfer of such information. Arizona legislators must ensure funding for establishing a sound and efficient electronic infrastructure is created for civil and criminal records to improve background checks specifically for those who have a mental illness or disability as well as those convicted of felonious crimes and have established criminal histories.

This is not to imply that all mental health persons are a threat to society or posses a propensity to be violent. It is likely that only a small percentage actually fall into this risk category but since this is about preventive measures and identifying those ineligible for such firearms purchases, it must be included in the criminal information system to disqualify them from purchasing a firearm. 

Legislators could amend the laws to include mandatory reporting by the Corrections Department to forward all names of those felons incarcerated and having a mental illness on file. 

This database could be incorporated with the Department of Public Safety and strengthen the NICS report status giving them more access to two additional sources for the database.  The first being an ex-felon convicted and the second being an ex-felon with mental health illness on file.

The fact is we are already doing such reporting under the law called Megan’s Law for sex offenders throughout the state. It would take another stroke of the keyboards to add this data to the system and make our communities safer.

In addition, closing loopholes in the background checks for every state is essential to maintain adequate control over information sharing and validating the criminal justice information process to be effective and instrumental in the prevention of having guns fall into the wrong hands in our communities.

There are currently federal grants available to make such changes if the state wants to apply for such additional funding resources.

Sources:

www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/.../maig_mimeo

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2012/12/19/report-maine-shares-few-mental-health-records-back/1296712

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[1] www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/.../maig_mimeo_revb.pdf