VIRGINIA PROTECTS MEDIOCRITY

Fifteen years have passed since the shooting at the Appalachian School of Law and ten years since the Virginia Tech rampage. Since the law school shooting in Gundy, Virginia on January 16, 2002, there have been over 31 school shootings in the U.S., resulting in the deaths of more than 126 people and the wounding of at least another 98. The killings go on and bodies pile up. Add to that figure shootings such as the ones at the Aurora, Colorado theater and Orlando nightclub; domestic violence and street crimes, and it is hard to deny we have an epidemic gun violence.

In the case of my family, the scars are still there. Angela Dales, the mother of my oldest grandchild, was killed at the law school. Danny Dales, Angie’s father, died in January 2013. His health deteriorated sharply after his daughter’s murder and he never recovered. Angie’s mother, Sue, has moved to be near her son and his family. Our granddaughter has graduated from college with honors and is in graduate school. But she is emotionally scared. Our son no longer blames himself for not being in the student lounge to protect Angie. His recovery from Angie’s murder has been long and costly. It took a good six years of support and tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills to get him back on his feet.

In the years since January 16, 2002, Virginia has not done nearly enough to make our schools safer. Indeed, five years after Grundy, the state had the worst school shooting in this nation’s history: April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech 32 dead and at least 17 wounded. The parallels between the state’s two shootings are staggering: ignored warning signs, failed leadership on the part of school leaders on the day of the shootings, and massive cover-ups. In the case of the Virginia Tech rampage, the Virginia Supreme Court broke the law and introduced false evidence into it decision making—lying about who was in charge of the investigation on April 16, 2007. Gross incompetence has been covered up, and the gun show loophole has not been closed. It is now easier than ever for people who are a danger to themselves and others to buy a gun in Virginia.

In the case of the Virginia Tech shooting, the state spent over $675,000 to have a company that has done business with the state write the analysis of the shooting determining if the state’s largest university was culpable: an obvious conflict of interest and waste of taxpayers’ money. In contrast, the Columbine report was written, at no cost, by the panel doing the investigation. The report analyzing the tragedy at Sandy Hook was written by the state’s Attorney General’s office at no cost to the taxpayers.

In Virginia, the electorate complains about wasting taxpayers’ money, yet the state went on a spending spree after Cho’s rampage and hired two public relations organizations to spin the tragedy in order to do minimal damage to Virginia Tech. The firms, Firestorm and Burson-Marsteller, were paid a total of $813,000. (Keep in mind the families of the dead students and faculty each got $100,000.) There is only one reason to hire public relations firms—you have something to hide. Neither Colorado (Columbine) nor Connecticut (Sandy Hook) needed to hire public relations firms to manage the media because there was no need to cover up or suppress the truth.

A prime example of Virginia’s chicanery came nearly three years after the Tech shooting when the lower house of the Virginia legislature significantly weakened state Senator John Edwards’ bill to amend and reenact the Code of Virginia relating to crisis and emergency management for public institutions of higher learning.

Specifically, members of the lower house took exception to university presidents and other school officials having to certify they comprehend and understand the school’s emergency plan—a plan those presidents played a role in draftingting. Here is the sentence as it cleared and passed the senate unanimously:

“In addition, the members of the threat assessment team, as defined …(by law)…, and the president and vice-president of each institution of higher education, or in the case of the Virginia Military Institute, the superintendent, shall annually certify in writing to the Department of Emergency Management, comprehension and understanding of the institution’s crisis and emergency management plan.”

Here is the sentence the lower house insisted on and appears ithe final bill:

“In addition, the president and vice-president of each public institution of higher education, or in the case of the Virginia Military Institute, the superintendent, shall annually (i) review the institution’s crisis and emergency management plan; (ii) certify in writing that the president and vice-president, or the superintendent, have reviewed the plan; and (iii) make recommendations to the institution for appropriate changes to the plan.”

Stop to think what members of the Virginia legislature have done: they have said presidents of the state’s colleges and universities do not have to comprehend and understand a document that is critical to the security of our children.

While the State Senate passed the original bill unanimously, the House of Delegates objected. The two most ardent opponents of the legislation—they wouldn’t vote for it in any form—were then-Delegate and Virginia Tech employee David Nutter, and Delegate Charles Poindexter.

The Virginia state legislature removed all chances of holding incompetent college and university president’s accountable for incompetence and poor judgment. And, on a cynical side, if you look at the working of the bill it says that presidents of the states institutions of higher learning don’t have to understand what they read. The lower house insisted on the change to protect school leaders from litigation.

I would ask, do you want to send your child to a school in which inept and maladroit school leadership can lead to the murder and wounding of faculty, staff and students—and you, or any family,  have little to no recourse? (To be continued)

2017: VIRGINIA SCHOOL SHOOTINGS ANNIVERSARIES

Spending millions of dollars on security systems in Virginia cannot hide the fact the state is woefully lacking in measures necessary to make the Virginia’s schools as safe as they need to be—Virginia does not hold politicians, school leaders, law enforcement personnel, and mental health care workers accountable for incompetence; incompetence that results in death and injury.

People in positions of authority need to be answerable for their actions or inactions resulting in the murder of students and faculty. But that has not happened here in The Old Dominion. In fact, quite the opposite has taken place. There have been massive cover-ups involving the power of the state, the legal system all the way to the Virginia Supreme Court, some members of law enforcement, and mental health providers. People we put our trust in have come together in an unholy alliance to conceal the truth.

Virginia’s power elite moved heaven earth to conceal the truth and protect individuals and their careers—even if it has meant out-and-out lying to the public.

Here is the problem: safety boils down to the human factor. A king’s ransom can be spent on consultants as well alarms and warnings, but it takes a human being to activate the warning or turn on the alarm. When the human does not act, million-dollar systems are worthless.

In both school shootings in Virginia—the Appalachian School of Law (three killed and three wounded), and Virginia Tech (31 killed and 17 wounded), inept and mediocre leaders doomed innocent students, faculty, and staff to death and injury through their unwillingness to heed the killers’ warning signs before and during the rampages.

 January 16, 2017 will mark the 15^th anniversary of the shooting at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia; April 16, 2017 will be the 10^th anniversary of the Virginia Tech rampage.

This posting is the first of a series I will post between now and the end of April 2017. I plan on reviewing the deceit, the cover-ups, the hypocrisy, and the lies that have surrounded both Virginia school shootings. I also will also look at the gun violence crisis this nation faces.

One of the best ways to honor the memory of those who were lost to gun violence and those who were wounded, is to keep fighting to keep guns out of the hands of those who are dangerously mentally ill as well as individuals who are a threat to themselves and others. Don’t give up the fight. (To be continued)

RADIO INTERVIEW ON MONDAY

I will be interviewed on Monday, November 14th at 0810 on the Neal Steele show--99.1 FM Gloucester, Va. Neal will be interviewing me about my new book, "A Handbook for Intelligence and Crime Analysis."

SPEAKING AT SHEPHERD'S CENTER

I will be the featured speaker at today's Shepard's Center lunch in Richmond, Virginia. I am talking about my new book, "The America We All Want." I am looking forward to it, always enjoy working with these folks. The meeting is being held at the Presbyterian Church on West Cary 

SPEAKING AT U. OF RICHMOND OSHER INSTITUTE

I will be discussing my new book, The America We All Want, at the University of Richmond’s Osher Institute on Monday, September 24^th from 10:00 a.m. until noon. The book examines the successful steps taken at the local level to help curb the growing gun violence in our country. To register, call (804) 287-6608. There is a $20.00 charge to attend.

NEW BOOK, THE AMERICA WE ALL WANT, PUBLISHED

Press Release on New Book

The America We All Want is the culmination of over a decade of research and writing on gun violence in the United States. The book is brutally honest in addressing the causes of the gun violence epidemic in the United States. Cariens believes the public shootings are a direct result of the past failures of our national and state leaders to address the root causes of violence. The author also factors in the growth of terrorism, racially motivated violence, and the horrendous targeting and murder of our police.

The America We All Want suggests actions can be taken at the local level to begin to curb these shooting rampages. The book does not have all the answers, but is a clarion call for people to think about what can be done and then follow up with actions.

The book challenges those who, when presented with ideas to curb gun violence say, “That won’t work.” He believes we are individually responsible for developing ideas to curb gun deaths. Cariens presents a clear-cut argument for working at the local level for change; attending town hall or council meetings; and to put forth ideas to stop the killings. And most important – to listen to each other’s ideas. If you are conservative, listen to progressives; if you are progressive, listen to conservatives.

The book draws on research as well as David Cariens’ extensive writings including his books on the shooting at the Appalachian School of Law and Virginia Tech. The author brings to the problem more than 50 years of working in intelligence and crime analysis. He also has the added dimension of having lost a family member in a school shooting.

David Cariens believes the road to curbing gun violence will be long, and painful. If the current trend continues, many innocent people will lose their lives because of our failure to act. We need to take action now.

THE BIG CON GAME

When it comes to gun violence, perhaps the most insidious deception played on the public is by state and federal legislatures deals with superficial laws. The Virginia House of Delegates excels at pulling the wool over the eyes of the public when it comes to domestic abuse and gun violence.

After the Virginia Tech rampage, the Virginia Senate unanimously passed a law making security plans a requirement for all colleges and universities in the state. The plan specified that college and university presidents had to certify that they had read and understand the plan.

The Virginia lower house, however, refused to pass the bill until the language stating school presidents understood the law was taken out.  Striking those words means no school president can be held accountable for failing to follow the security plan. They can always say they did not understand it.

On a cynical note, Virginians must be proud of the fact they have a law stating college and university presidents don’t have to understand what they read.

Now, Richmond has done it again. On July 16, 2016 a new provision of the law prohibits a person who is subject to a family abuse protection order (the respondent) from possessing a firearm. Sounds good, but is it?

 Looks and sounds good, right? Well, let’s take a close look.

The law states that after the respondent is served with the protective order, he or she has 24 hours to lawfully possess the weapon solely for the purpose of transferring or selling the firearm to a person who may legally own it. The law does not give the police the power to see that the person being restrained complies with the order. If the respondent says he or she turned in the gun, sold it, or gave it to someone who can possess the gun, law enforcement has to believe him or her. There is no mechanism for ensuring that the person being restrained has truly complied.

Furthermore, if an individual is so violent that the courts have to step in, what makes the legislature think the respondent will suddenly cool off and meekly comply?

And, the law only applies to subjects of family abuse protective orders pursuant to Virginia Code Section 16.1-279.1 and does not apply to individuals subject to an emergency, temporary or other protective order.

The law is nothing more than window dressing; it is in fact, next to worthless. It adds to the growing list of laws in the Old Dominion designed to hoodwink the public into thinking politicians are moving to prevent gun violence.