Our protectors must do better

The most essential duty of government is to protect people from each other. But when it comes to mass shooters, government agencies at every level keep botching the job. Obviously blunders by FBI agents, cops and social workers aren't the only factor to consider in mass shootings. But far too often they are a defining factor. We need to talk about that, and find a way to fix it.

Consider the school shooter in Parkland, Florida, on February 18, 2018:

“This kid exhibited every single known red flag, from killing animals to having a cache of weapons to disruptive behavior to saying he wanted to be a school shooter,” Mr. Finkelstein said. “If this isn’t a person who should have gotten someone’s attention, I don’t know who is. This was a multisystem failure.”
— New York Times

Howard Finkelstein is the Broward County public defender, whose office is representing the shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz. The "multisystem failure" refers to the federal, state and local agencies that had many opportunities to prevent a shooting, and consistently bungled their jobs.

First, the Florida Department of Children and Families. It investigated Cruz a year and a half before the shooting, and concluded he suffered from "mental illness" and "plans to go out and buy a gun." Then it closed the investigation without taking any further action.

Second, the FBI. Five months before the shooting, the FBI investigated a comment that had been posted on YouTube: "Im going to be a professional school shooter". The FBI "failed to identify the user" because "the comment did not include information about timing or location". Yet it did include the shooter's full name - he posted as "nikolas cruz".

The month before the shooting, the FBI got another chance to stop Cruz. A tipster called the FBI to report Cruz's "desire to kill people, erratic behavior and disturbing social media posts." But the FBI failed again. "The information should have been assessed and forwarded to the Miami F.B.I. field office, the bureau said. But that never happened." The FBI has admitted fault.

Third, the Broward County Sheriff's Office (BSO). When the shooting started, the armed deputy stationed at the school waited outside the building and did "nothing." But there were failures before that. Months before the shooting, a relative called the BSO to ask for Cruz's weapons to be seized, but apparently nothing was done. A few weeks later, "a tipster called BSO to say Cruz “could be a school shooter in the making,” but deputies did not write up a report on that warning." The BSO has admitted fault.

This series of abject failures is so extraordinary it's almost unbelievable. Yet they are part of a pattern in recent years:

• Devin Kelley attacked a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on November 5, 2017
  • The Air Force failed to transmit Kelley's criminal record to the FBI. The Air Force has admitted fault.
  • The Comal County Sheriff's Office botched a rape investigation involving Kelley that would have resulted in him being barred from purchasing firearms. The Sheriff has admitted fault.
• Omar Mateen attacked a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016
  • The FBI investigated Mateen twice, the first time for claiming he had relatives in Al Qaeda and was himself a member of Hezbollah (which the United States classifies as a terrorist group), but closed the investigations both times.
  • Police inside the building were ordered to stand down, and a SWAT team waited outside for hours without attempting to stop Mateen.
• Dylan Roof attacked a church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015
  • FBI had incorrect paperwork and also made a mistake during the background check that "allowed Dylann Roof to buy a handgun". The FBI has admitted fault.
• Aaron Alexis attacked the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on September 16, 2013
  • "Seattle police arrested him for shooting out the tires on a construction worker's vehicle."
  • "In 2010, Fort Worth police arrested him for shooting a gun at his apartment"
  • On August 2, 2013, he filed a police report in which he claimed he was hearing voices in his head.
  • On August 4, 2013, naval police were called to Alexis' hotel and found that he had "taken apart his bed, believing someone was hiding under it".
  • After the shooting, a Pentagon investigation "found fault with the Navy for not properly monitoring Alexis". The Navy "did not run a records check on him" upon enlistment to discover his violent criminal history.

These are just some recent examples. The message is clear: we need the people responsible for protecting us to do better.

Yes, we need mental health professionals to more consistently report people who are hearing voices or feeling a desire to kill. Yes, we need to improve the way data is reported for the purpose of firearm background checks, so data is never missing or incorrect. Yes, we need parents to keep firearms away from children they know suffer from mental illness. Yes, we want to help victims of domestic abuse feel safe enough to be willing to testify against their abusers, and block those abusers from acquiring firearms. But we also need our government agencies, at all levels, do a better job stopping people that are obvious threats.

At the rallies after these mass shootings, people don't call to dock the pay of the FBI investigator or fire the Sheriff. They call to ban firearm ownership. "No more guns" is what they chanted in Florida, after our government utterly failed to protect us from a threat that couldn't have been more obvious.