Tag: Virginia Tech

The Story: The ongoing pandemic, and the publicity it has engendered concerning the healthcare workers at the front lines, may have had a powerful influence...

Tragically, too many lives have been lost over the past years to too many shootings and acts of domestic violence. The nexus of the gun lobby, second amendment rights activists, and a crippled mental health system has effectively blocked action to stop the killing. Any solution in this political environment has to start at the local level, and be reinforced by Executive Action. Effective programs for identifying and monitoring potentially violent young offenders are grounded in community mental health systems and involve community social agencies, the police, and the FBI. As a career military psychiatrist and former Army general, I have learned that a complex system needs a senior commander in charge to build a strategy and coordinate the operations, particularly when the politics are dysfunctional. An empowered Assistant Secretary can design and implement programs to strength community mental health and prevent future tragedies. Nikolas Cruz is a teaching case on violence and mental health, and the failure of our society to care for handicapped and disadvantaged young people like him. Cruz’s problems were out in the open for years. Nor was his adoptive father who had died six years before. The social service agencies, police, and FBI failed to act on Cruz’s threats and the dangers he obviously presented.