From a recent account of the Florida shooter:
"On Jan. 5, according to the FBI, the public access line received information from "a person close to Cruz" about his "gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior ... and the potential of him conducting a school shooting."
"Under established protocols," the FBI said, "the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life. The information should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami field office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken. ... The information was not provided to the Miami field office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time."
I'm sorry. In the commercial janitorial business, we get "tips" in every day; a client calls about a deficiency in dusting, or perhaps vacuuming. We evaluate it (reliability of the source, seriousness of the situation, when - perhaps tonight, or next visit - it needs be corrected) we log it, and get it out to the crew. Generally in 5 or 10 minutes. We could easily jot it down, and let it set, and respond a couple of weeks later, in order of priority. Or let it "drop through the cracks". But it takes no more time to deal with the situation now than it would tomorrow, or next week. We keep enough people available to deal with problems as they occur, and with the authority to do so.
Kind of seems to me that a threat to life is more important than a dusting issue. Perhaps the good folks at the FBI need a bit more funding, or a change in organization, or in culture. But the sort of information they had (there was another tip received, as well) should have been processed within minutes, and sent to the field office, who ought be organized and staffed to act on it the same day. And ordinary folks ought be encouraged to report concerns, immediately. And we ought look close at how we treat, and report, mental illness. And don't let arrest and conviction records from the states "fall through the cracks" on their way to a Federal database.
Something like the above, it seems to me, might be more productive in preserving life than the current protest marches.
Comments