I am saddened because of the preparation we have to go through to be safe, particularly safety of our children. I was joyous that our system of governance has ingrained safety in our hearts and minds and has built an enduring system to take care of our citizens.
I wanted to make two comments during the orientation, but chose not to, as the class was not meant for me, it was for women teachers, and I was the only guy in the class of some 40 women, besides two guy instructors and the Safety officer of the Mosque.
It was a joy to see the positive interaction between the agents and the class room, as teachers they were ready to learn what it takes to protect the children in their class rooms.
The program is called Run, Hide and or Fight.
Per the FBI studies, there were a total of 160 shootings between 2000 and 2013 of which 15% of shootings were at K thru 12, and 10% at colleges. All but two were lone gun men, and the whole nightmare lasted for 5 minutes and 50% of time the shooter was neutralized.
It was an excellent program and needs to be replicated across the nation. I just heard the Louisville Mosques are doing this, and will check in other Cities, or please update me.
First of all, a majority of them seemed immigrant Americans while there were born Americans as well. We come from nations, where it is a no-no to even talk with the police and intelligence community, only those who have a problem are in touch with them, that is not the case here. The Law enforcement agencies are community friendly, they are here to protect and safeguard the interests of fellow citizens. This message needs to be given repeatedly, as a few among us still do not trust the police and law enforcement people. This has to change.
What can be improved?
At 3:35 PM, while the training was on, someone walked in and announced to the agent to give a break for 5 minutes for prayers. I am sure the intellectual Imams like Imam Magid will talk about this. If you have a program that involves non-Muslims, plan it around the prayers or do the prayer earlier or later as Islam allows necessary accommodation. I was with a professor two days ago, he was telling me a story from Chicago, where they were working with a very tight time, and the Muslims just walked out of the meeting to pray. I have written a full story about it happening during the Unity Day in 2005 and how it was misunderstood until; it was clarified and put it to rest. This is an issue we need to address.
Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916
Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics,human rights, India, Israel-Palestine and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and bulk of his writings are at TheGhousediary.com