Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2020)
East Oregonian A4 Thursday, January 16, 2020 CHRISTOPHER RUSH Publisher KATHRYN B. BROWN Owner ANDREW CUTLER Editor WYATT HAUPT JR. News Editor JADE McDOWELL Hermiston Editor Founded October 16, 1875 OUR VIEW Citizen group an example of democracy in action S uccessful police work has always hinged on the involve- ment of the community, and that is why the recent effort by mem- bers of the Milton-Freewater commu- nity to create a citizens patrol is such a good idea, and one that the city should welcome. An outside observer could believe police are not doing their jobs, jus- tifying the effort. That unfounded assertion needs to be discarded once and for all. Truth is the Milton-Free- water Police Department — like all area law enforcement agencies — is doing the absolute best it can with the resources it has. Already down one full-time officer, the department is working on burglaries and thefts and a homicide investigation. In other words, they have their plate full. The local group — called Take Back our Little Town of Milton-Free- water — is a grass-roots effort to add citizen resources to the local police. Arguments can be made about Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Photo/Chloe LeValley Milton-Freewater Police Chief Doug Boedigheimer explains the current situation of his po- lice department to the 50 or so concerned residents who attended the city council meeting Monday to talk about increased crime in Milton-Freewater. why crime appears — and the key word here is “appears” — to be climbing in Milton-Freewater, but in the end debates about the why fall short as the effort to seek solutions takes center stage. Citizen involvement is crucial in every aspect of democracy, and the Milton-Freewater citizens’ patrol is an excellent case in point. Residents there could have easily sat back and pointed fingers at police. They didn’t do that. Instead, they plan to band together and make a dif- ference. Instead of laying blame, they seek solutions. Instead of spewing rhetoric, they want to take action. Our democracy needs more cit- izen involvement. That is why the Milton-Freewater effort should stand as a good example of an engaged body politic that isn’t looking for easy answers. Easy answers — such as blaming police or elected lead- ers — are not going to slash crime in Milton-Freewater. Like most things in life, to be successful in tackling crime, the citizens of the town are going to have to work hard. With the right kind of effort and right goals, the citizen patrol program can evolve into a crucial element — an added weapon — for local police to combat crime. Getting involved in democracy sometimes isn’t easy, but in the end, it pays dividends for all. OTHER VIEWS Talking to my daughter about war and megafires W Can a public education campaign work to reduce gun violence? C fense. And more than 1.5 million children ould a communications campaign under the age of 18 live in homes with loaded, aimed at gun-owning households unsecured guns, making them 16 times more lower the incidence of gun violence in likely to be killed than in safer homes. America? Today’s sophisticated marketing and pub- I know it could, and here’s why — a com- lic relations professionals can reach those peo- munications program targeting potential ple. We have the technology, the communi- arsonists changed my life. As managing director of a New York com- cations networks and the strategic planning munications consulting firm, I received a tools to design campaigns targeted at those request for proposal from Aetna, the insur- homes with messages that will resound with ance giant. After passing the first screen- the parents. ing round, we were given a test assignment. Technology can help too. If Amazon can Aetna asked us to design a commu- recommend a book they think you nications program to reduce arson. will like based on your past pur- chases, those same tools could be Arsons produce big losses for insur- ers, of course. used to make America safer. We were surprised to learn that And we don’t need to do a lot most arson crimes weren’t commit- of research to learn about the ways ted in disadvantaged urban areas, safety can be improved. Just Goo- gle “how to keep my gun safe at but rather in rural, mostly Southern, home” and you’ll get 177 million communities. The perpetrators were L ouis hits. Even the NRA has advice on generally young, white men and their c apozzi gun safety in the home. motive was revenge — “you seduced COMMENT Tim Dees, a former criminal my wife, I’ll burn your house down.” justice professor, said, “Injuries to We also learned that virtually children from the mishandling of firearms is a 100% of them get caught. So we recom- mended a campaign aimed at potential arson- 100% preventable problem. The problem’s not ists. Our key message — “Don’t do it — a shortage of advice; it’s a problem of access we’re going to catch you!” to that advice, and motivation to employ it. We won the account, and I later got That’s what marketing and communications recruited to lead the communications organi- people do well. We can motivate consumers zation at Aetna. to seek out products that fill their needs. We Targeting potential arsonists turned out can encourage voters to prefer a candidate. to be pretty easy. There was lots of infor- We can even change behavior on important mation available on their lifestyles and social issues like automobile safety or smok- ing. We can, and should be applying those the media channels that would reach their skills to this critical issue in America.” demographics. ——— Could we do the same thing for risky gun Louis Capozzi is the former chairman of owners? According to a study by the Law Center to the MSL Group and teaches in the master’s degree program at the University of Ore- Prevent Gun Violence cited in The New York Times editorial, a gun in the home is 22 times gon. Capozzi is an investor in Central Ore- gon Media Group, the limited-liability com- more likely to be used in a family homicide, pany that owns the Bend Bulletin. suicide or accident than to be used in self-de- Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. e were on the way to bal- unfathomable 1.5 million acres, an area let rehearsal. It’s my favor- three times larger than any known brush ite 30 minutes of the day. It’s fire in California, had taken shape in a chance to break away from work, and New South Wales and Victoria, the coun- try’s most populous states. to touch base with my only child. She’s That’s on top of the 135 bushfires 14 now. And it won’t be long before in southeastern Australia that have left she’s driving herself. I treasure these at least 26 people dead, killed more moments. than 1 billion animals and damaged or “So,” I asked her. “How was school destroyed nearly 3,000 homes. today?” Writing in The New York Times, “We were arguing about whether columnist Paul Krugman we’re more likely to die from observed that, in a more ratio- World War III or climate change,” nal time, the fires, which have she said. been partially a result of cli- Her response stopped me cold, mate change, “would have rep- but I guess I shouldn’t have been resented a turning point.” surprised. “After all, it’s exactly the With the dogs of war straining kind of catastrophe climate at the leash, the missiles flying in scientists long warned us to Iran, and our bellicose and unsta- J ohn L. ble commander-in-chief lurching expect if we didn’t take action M icek from one scarcely believable justi- to limit greenhouse gas emis- COMMENT sions,” he wrote. “In fact, a fication to the next, the prospect of 2008 report commissioned by another American forever war on the Australian government predicted that the other side of the globe didn’t seem all global warming would cause the nation’s that far-fetched. fire seasons to begin earlier, end later, First up, I disabused her of the notion and be more intense — starting around that any of her classmates might be 2020.” drafted, reassuring her that there was no And all this got me to thinking about such movement afoot on Capitol Hill. the world that we’re bequeathing to my Nor would there likely ever be one. The daughter and her classmates. American military remains an all-volun- teer force comprised not of the nation’s While much is better about the planet, elite, but of the sons and daughters of there’s still much to be concerned about. Main Street America. Trump’s voters. And the threat of an uninhabitable globe Some of my daughter’s classmates — if should lead us to a united search for solu- tions, not juvenile taunts hurled at a teen- they ever heed the call to serve — may ager by one of the most powerful people well be among them. on Earth. Even one dead child in an ele- She seemed relieved at that news. mentary school classroom should moti- Talking to her about the threat of climate vate us to find ways to reduce violence, change was another matter entirely. not watch hopelessly as more bodies pile it seemed to me there were decades up. remaining before the Earth might ever I’m still firm in my belief that it’s not be rendered uninhabitable because of too late for us to shrug off all that divides climate change, I offered. Which didn’t us, and to work together to fight these mean that we shouldn’t do all we can existential threats. right now, I added. But that means having a nation that “But Australia is burning,” she coun- tered, her brown eyes wide with alarm, engages with the global community, not anger creeping into the edges of her denigrates it; one that rejects the false voice. choice that less gun violence somehow She had me there. I’d seen the pho- means fewer rights; and one that doesn’t tos of scorched koalas and dead kanga- stare at each over the trenches, each irre- vocably convinced that its way is the roos. The endless walls of flame. It’s dif- ficult to find the words to describe the only way. scale, and the scope, of the ecological My daughter — and all our children and human catastrophe that’s unfolding — deserve far better answers than the on the other side of the world. ones we’ve been giving them. As of this writing, NPR was reporting ——— that a hellish “megafire” comprising an John L. Micek is a syndicated columnist. The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to the editor to editor@eastoregonian.com, or via mail to Andrew Cutler, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
