I have some acquaintances who seem to be signing out. I feel that way sometimes too. When we talk about the issue of the day we more and more seem to shrug our shoulders and say there is nothing to be done. I kind of wonder of that is normal for us folks approaching the age of 70. Maybe it is a natural defense against stress and worry. Of course those of us who fret about things all the time will probably not get total relief, but the angst probably won't be quite as severe.
I haven't written about Omaree, the 9 year old boy who was kicked to death by his mother, after the system as a whole shrugged its shoulders about his endangerment. What is to be done? But this morning I figured it out. Lets all just use common sense. That seemed to be missing in the boy's case. Putting two and two together isn't that difficult, even for hardened police officers and child welfare workers. Everyone seemed to have ignored their own gut feelings. If someone erred in their judgement there must have been someone involved nearby who might have said, take a second look. Like that 911 operator did. No one listened.
Everyone is on guard now. They will be more vigilant until they aren't. And so there needs to be some sort of system that reenforces the front line providers to listen.
Another example of this is the legislature not passing a tough DUI penalty for repeat offenders. Members say they don't know the ramifications of such penalties. Well, I do. It is common sense. It will keep offenders off the streets.
I haven't written about Omaree, the 9 year old boy who was kicked to death by his mother, after the system as a whole shrugged its shoulders about his endangerment. What is to be done? But this morning I figured it out. Lets all just use common sense. That seemed to be missing in the boy's case. Putting two and two together isn't that difficult, even for hardened police officers and child welfare workers. Everyone seemed to have ignored their own gut feelings. If someone erred in their judgement there must have been someone involved nearby who might have said, take a second look. Like that 911 operator did. No one listened.
Everyone is on guard now. They will be more vigilant until they aren't. And so there needs to be some sort of system that reenforces the front line providers to listen.
Another example of this is the legislature not passing a tough DUI penalty for repeat offenders. Members say they don't know the ramifications of such penalties. Well, I do. It is common sense. It will keep offenders off the streets.
4 comments:
Omaree is the issue of the Albuqueruqe Police Department and Richard Berry.
A department that has collasped and a mayor who does not lead or demand accountability from the top.
Berry, after 41 days, goes on record saying he will have task force to review the entire system. Well it wasn't the entire system that broke with Omaree, it was APD. How about Berry going on record saying he will fire the chief and demand better results from APD. Not going to happen with this mayor. He will just spin cycle his way back into the rabbit hole and hide.
The Omaree case is sad and horrific, and law enforcement botched it up completely. Too bad this one hasn't reached national cable news on the scale that others have. It would draw more attention to the mess at city hall.
You can't legislate morality, and you can't legislate common sense. But empathy can be encouraged, rewarded and cultivated in any organization.
Berry lies, Perry lies, Banks lies, and nobody cares. It's all a big shrug.
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