Trying Again to Get the Added Comments In on that Post Below... On Eric Garner, Preventing Violence in general and Choke Holds by Police

I appreciate the incredible work police do when they are needed in emergencies. As a person living in Brooklyn for much of the past few years, I have had to learn more about the ways police can be prone and even 'mistrained' or stray from their training to do harm.

One of the most serious cases in recent years which spurred the Black Lives Matter Movement and for the public to consider is the way Eric Garner was possibly profiled (by whom and for what purpose has yet to be clarified.) 

Supposedly he has sold 10K cigarettes illegally yet he only had 100 on him at the time he was being arrested and unfortunately 'resisted' and had things escalate. 

The next critical turn of events highlights the current choices or possibly errors which can lead to unintended consequences. Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo used an illegal or banned choke hold to force Eric Garner to the ground. 

There were other officers, including one who was the partner of Pantaleo and another who was the supervising officer, witnessing this quick turn of events. As for Eric Garner, age 43 and father of six, he had a heart twice the size of a normal person.

He also had asthma. Some medical people said the stress caused to him as well as something like a bear hug, could have put him in severe distress leading to a breathing crisis (asthma attack or serious response to being choked.)

Now advocates are calling for a ban on all forms of choke holds (including ones which do not block the airway of a person) by police. I watched more about the concerns 'on both sides' and summarized some on livfully.org the other day.

I am summarizing from memory now and will reflect more on this kind of situation and what it may mean for all of us in our country and possibly other countries with similar systems.

We all basically need to train to 'play by the rules', understand the odds of being harmed--and particularly more vulnerable populations such as people of color, women, youth, homeless or otherwise economically compromised people and so on. 

Someone like Eric Garner should have had a special medical bracelet on and other advocacy to help him live a life that prioritized care of his 'special heart' and even his larger physical body. 

In NYC advocates are getting 'free hygiene products for females in prisons, schools and low-income settings.' Someone informed me that there are public restrooms throughout Europe so people do not need to go into restaurants and so on. In NYC politicians are only recently seeking a million dollars annually to address gun violence. 

The point has been made the leaving non-profits and the public begging for reform without meaningful requests gets people nowhere fast. The Carey Gabay Foundation in Brooklyn is a recent grassroots effort looking to fill some gaps and enhance what some non-profits are already doing.

I have thought of ways for more people in every state and area, most who stay 'within a few hours of where they grew up, to keep in touch with those in their '5-10 year' age group, look out for those a bit younger and eventually those a bit older.

Every town, school and class could promote social networks of inclusion and capability to help people not fall behind or feel isolated. Ideally we would have a national 'call and check on people' network with the appropriate 'checks and balances.' 

Usually local networks function well, however sometimes the mandated reporting standards can be taken too far or fall into 'the wrong hands.' That's where getting to know one another in safe reasonable ways, using public venues for meetings and even social gatherings and such until people are more clear about safety (of homes, others in the home, pets, car insurance and maintenance or other basics if travelling together, makes sense.)

When we realize many dozens of laws are being written 'while we sleep' it's rather amazing we functioned 'as well as we mostly did in the past.' 

Unfortunately we can accept that many suffered horrendous crimes and only now is the notion that 'the public, the law or somebody cares.' Even that is not being relayed in a comprehensive manner to every citizen. Likely the internet is helping along those lines, but again, Much More Could Be Done. Lisa Bloom who is representing victims of Jeffrey Epstein. She has a talk on Kent Presents which is online.

When more women and nice men look practically at how society is set up, a quick list could be drawn up to help everyone be treated humanely. Currently we ask libraries and McD's to take care of the public in ways they are really not set up to do (or were intended.) We could also use more 'middle men and women', friendly outreaches (from vans and pop-up booths, etc, to educate the homeless and others of services 'Within Reach' 

( That's also the name of a set of cards I think from Patti Sinclair, a NWCT medium by the way who has also helped many in having a sense their loved ones are 'okay and still in connection' with our earthly world from the other side.)

The more we think about providing 'free personal care' for those who need it for eating, bathing and dressing and getting to appointments, the more readily people can find their way to a more 'normal, safe' set of living and participating in society, legally and above board as much as possible. Most people are 'trying to make ends meet' legitimately.

Gambling and many things that used to not be legal or present are becoming more widespread.

Hopefully we would realize every human being needs a healthy start in life so helping pregnant women have healthy babies (including not on drugs, not on alcohol or nicotine, pot or prescriptive meds if possible) is a great investment. 

Then there is a need for reasonable childcare and support. Likely faith communities and local public schools could help organized more programs. PTOs, recreation and other civic organizations could provide ways for children and their caregivers to have good nutrition, dental and mental health care as well as keep up with physicals and fitness. The investments would pay off many times over.

The setbacks in brain and normal development in the early months and years are often the root causes of challenge and delays for years to come. 

Once people see 'how relatively easy' that problem is to solve 'with teamwork' and group activities (and yes, likely bringing in more people to do the care-giving with meaningful engagement and curriculum) the faster the idea could catch on. 

We have the internet, with endless amounts of free material to inform people and even enrich the process of care-giving and learning. It's almost as easy as picking apples off of properly pruned and nourished trees.