FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

            Today there have been over 300 mass killings in the U.S. in 2019, and the usual liberal response is to call for reducing the number of guns.  The kids from Parkland High School have contributed to this call for gun control and to the drumbeat in the media to get rid of guns.

            However, in Crime in America, criminal justice expert Paul Brakke has examined crime and the criminal justice system, which has led him to make some suggestions that could apply to reducing the number of mass murders in America.  He writes from a conservative perspective, so he is in agreement with many other conservatives who don't feel gun control is the answer.  Rather they view most mass murders as due to a mental illness, given that most of these murderers are loners who have trouble relating to others in their school or community.  Some killers also have a pattern of past violence and brushes with the law, or they have been in and out of rehab facilities or mental hospitals. 

            Accordingly, one way to better deal with the problem, according to Brakke, is to reach out to individuals who show signs of being an alienated loner to help integrate them back into the community and turn them into productive citizens. This is a suggestion he makes in a chapter on reducing recidivism as a way to reduce the high cost of incarcerating prisoners who have committed minor non-violent crimes.  Brakke further points out that apart from increasing costs, over-incarcerating prisoners contributes to the crime rate, since it leads to the break-up of families and makes it more difficult for ex-cons to get jobs.  Instead, he recommends finding ways to reintegrate ex-cons into the community and help them find jobs.

            As Brakke suggests, the same principle might be applied to individuals who are at risk of becoming the next mass murderer statistic.  An effort might be made to identify individuals, especially males, who are loners and seem to be either closed off from others or acting out aggressively. Identifying them will allow professionals to help such loners get reconnected to others.  All it might take is reaching out to them like a friend to dissuade them from acting on their anger by shooting others they feel wronged them or randomly picking off victims.  It doesn't matter whether they are seething internally or are acting out like bullies.  The same strategy of offering them friendship and community support might work to keep them from killing others. 

            This approach is part of Brakke's suggestions to seek community-based solutions to help individuals become more productive citizens, preserve family unity, and create stronger communities.  This way, with closer more cohesive communities, supportive friends, and jobs, individuals have less incentive to return to any type of crime, including committing a mass murder.  The strategy helps ex-cons avoid returning to prison, and it could similarly help to keep prospective mass murderers from killing anyone.

            To learn more, you can now get a free review copy of Crime in America, which is available for preorder, too.  Brakke is offering these books for free to anyone who wants to review and comment on the book.  Also, copies are available for government officials who might turn some of these suggestions for reducing crime and fixing the criminal justice system into legislation.   Members of the media are additionally invited to request copies of the book.

            To help draw attention to these suggested fixes in the book, Brakke has launched a video and social media campaign with five new videos each day.  The first 10 videos are featured on his American Leadership Books' YouTube channel.  Among the most recent videos are "Want to Know Still More About U.S. Crime?" https://youtu.be/cFK9Bmcr_9w and "Want to Know More about U.S. Crime and Prisons?" https://youtu.be/87fLsRId3Is .

            Brakke brings to this discussion of crime and the divisions in American society an extensive background in researching the subject as the publisher of American Leadership Books and the author of seven books.  Six of them deal with what to do about crime in America and one deals with understanding and healing the great national divides in America.  Other past books include: The Costly U.S. Prison System, The Price of Justice in America, and  Fixing the U.S. Criminal Justice System.  Since these first books were designed especially for law enforcement professionals, government officials, and academics, Brakke is now adapting these books for a general audience and will be bringing out his next books -- Fractured America and Prisons in America -- in the next few months.

            Copies of Crime in America for review are available to the general public at no charge at www.crimeinamericathebook.com.   For media copies of the book, along with additional information on American Leadership Books and Paul Brakke and to set up interviews, please contact:

Jana Collins

Jones & O'Malley

Toluca Lake, California

jana@jonesomalley.com

 (818) 762-8353