Wasted Honor -- - Say What you Need To Say......: Ferguson

Wasted Honor -

Carl R. ToersBijns is the author of the Wasted Honor Trilogy [Wasted Honor I,II and Gorilla Justice] and his newest book From the Womb to the Tomb, the Tony Lester Story, which is a reflection of his life and his experiences as a correctional officer and a correctional administrator retiring with the rank of deputy warden in the New Mexico and Arizona correctional systems.

Carl also wrote a book on his combat experience in the Kindle book titled - Combat Medic - Men with destiny - A red cross of Valor -

Carl is considered by many a rogue expert in the field of prison security systems since leaving the profession. Carl has been involved in the design of many pilot programs related to mental health treatment, security threat groups, suicide prevention, and maximum custody operational plans including double bunking max inmates and enhancing security for staff. He invites you to read his books so you can understand and grasp the cultural and political implications and influences of these prisons. He deals with the emotions, the stress and anxiety as well as the realities faced working inside a prison. He deals with the occupational risks while elaborating on the psychological impact of both prison worker and prisoner.

His most recent book, Gorilla Justice, is an un-edited raw fictional version of realistic prison experiences and events through the eyes of an anecdotal translation of the inmate’s plight and suffering while enduring the harsh and toxic prison environment including solitary confinement.

Carl has been interviewed by numerous news stations and newspapers in Phoenix regarding the escape from the Kingman prison and other high profile media cases related to wrongful deaths and suicides inside prisons. His insights have been solicited by the ACLU, Amnesty International, and various other legal firms representing solitary confinement cases in California and Arizona. He is currently working on the STG Step Down program at Pelican Bay and has offered his own experience insights with the Center of Constitutional Rights lawyers and interns to establish a core program at the SHU units. He has personally corresponded and written with SHU prisoners to assess the living conditions and how it impacts their long term placement inside these type of units that are similar to those in Arizona Florence Eyman special management unit where Carl was a unit deputy warden for almost two years before his promotion to Deputy Warden of Operations in Safford and Eyman.

He is a strong advocate for the mentally ill and is a board member of David's Hope Inc. a non-profit advocacy group in Phoenix and also serves as a senior advisor for Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council in Chino, California As a subject matter expert and corrections consultant, Carl has provided interviews and spoken on national and international radio talk shows e.g. BBC CBC Lou Show & TV shows as well as the Associated Press.

I use sarcasm, satire, parodies and other means to make you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Ferguson - a Proportional Abuse of Power?

We have seen the times they are a changing but are they changing for the good or for the worst times in history? The answer lies somewhere in between the facts and concerns as the public is dealing with what appears to be a radical wave of abusive police powers that are emotionally upsetting as well as a physical threat of intimidating law abiding citizens who see this as an infringement of their Constitutional rights thus push back to these authority figures. One must say to those involved. The authority figures must be held to a higher standard than the citizens who appear to be reacting to what they see as an abuse of power.

The strategy applied by the police appears to be psychological in nature as it is an effective tool to diminish perceived threats and control the behaviors of those who witness such intimidation tactics as well as what some call an example of excessive force. The inclusion of delivering military equipment, armored vehicles and other anti-terrorist gear makes the police force appear to be the enemy rather than a partner in the community. It is important to consider political perceptions as well as common sense approaches to deal with the problems.

The reality lies with the environmental factors that influence such decision making and allowances made to keep the peace and provide a universal blanket of safety for the majority of the population. In other words these tactics are implemented for the good of many rather than just the few involved in the incident at hand. A concept shared by many law enforcement agencies today but often misunderstood by the citizenry not trained in such ideology.

The abuse of police power is and can also be defined as emotional abuse. It has an affect that impacts the psychology of a person or persons and alters their mindset to determine injury, negative impressions or critical decision-making on how to deal with such over-powering situations. This can be delivered verbally, non-verbally or physically with the presence of an overwhelming show of force as well as the tactical gear, uniforms, and equipment available to enhance such a show of force.

Emotional abuse is most common amongst those who have the least amount of power either in their hierarchy or their society. Predominantly addressed to impact women and children the most, it does also impact men and eventually erodes their self-esteem, confidence, stamina or self-worth. The key is being under prolonged periods of time to determine the loss incurred. Adding more abuse to the existing abuse is detrimental to a good society.

Most commonly, this abuse is mainly associated with abusive personal relationships but for this purpose written, can be linked to abusive community relationships or authority relationships as it almost always precedes physical abuse or the use of force, whether excessive or justified. The sad fact is that those who are abused often become the abuser to another person and the link is hardly ever broken.

A common detrimental cause of such maltreatment is the impact on cognitive, social, and psychological behaviors. They can be detrimental and long lasting creating many problems in the future. Ignored in large part are the pre-existent conditions that lead up to such abuse. Other than litigation for mistreatment retribution or recovering from such an abuse, the phenomena is long lasting and builds mistrust as time goes by.

From a societal point of view it may include neglecting the community’s needs, culture, feelings, or just ignoring what needs to be done to maintain a safe and secure environment. On the extreme side you may have authority figures exploiting, corrupting, blaming or showing aggression rather than the opposite qualities needs in leadership and authoritive positions to maintain positive community relationships.

Refusing to listen, understanding or berating those who are speaking can escalate the abuse to the point of retaliation or some other passive revolt to this type of treatment. Community leaders are chosen to effectively communicate with one another and provide sound guidance to establish law and order rather than chaos. There should be no blame game in such approaches as we have to remember that in human nature, approach determines response.

Keep in mind the effects of such emotional abuse can lead to leaving persons vulnerable to injury, harm or fear of harm. If there is no checks and balances in the lawful approach to deal with controversy then the situation is subject to escalation and more fear from the police or authority figures involved.

The best way to avoid such tactical mistakes is to avoid creating additional abusive situations, build awareness to the problems and solutions at hand and understand and take notice of the rights and duties of those on both sides of the lines drawn in conflicting situations. The lines of communication should always remain open but the control of information is most necessary to avoid misunderstandings on incomplete facts that may cause more harm or distrust among the populace as it stands.