FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

            Both the media and citizens have been overly quick to find the police at fault about some cases where citizens have been killed by the police.  Alternatively, the media and many citizen have been quick to blame illegal immigrants as a group when one of them kills a police officer.  But both demonizing a whole group -- cops in the one case, illegal immigrants in the other -- by the behavior of one individual is wrong, as noted by criminal justice expert Paul Brakke, who has just published his latest book, Crime in America from American Leadership Books.   

            Another problem is that in making these political statements, the death of a police officer can play second fiddle to the focus on the illegal immigrant doing the killing -- or a police officer can be falsely portrayed as a criminal killer when the officer kills a suspect in the line of duty.  Thus, the police officer is either ignored or portrayed as the bad guy, as Brakke points out.  Instead, his focus is on getting the facts, as he describes in chapters on the police and on dealing with illegal immigrants in Crime in America.

            For example, in many of the high profile cases of a citizen killed by the police, such as in the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida, Freddie Gray in Baltimore, and Eric Garner in New York City, the protests and sometimes riots have portrayed the police as engaged in unjustified criminal acts.  Later, the protesters have accused the justice system of being corrupt, when the police involved in these killings were subsequently found not guilty of murder.  But the stats present a different story, since 99% of the police officers involved in killing 1165 people in 2018 were not charged with a crime. A key reason is that the police are largely confronting hardened criminals who have just committed crimes, are trying to evade police capture, and are threatening the police, so a killing is justified as the appropriate use of force.

            As for the cases of cops killed by a few illegal immigrants, most recently the killing of California Police officer Ronil Singh on December 26 by Gustavo Perez Arriaga, this is one of the few cases of an illegal immigrant killing a police office.  By contrast, the vast number of officers is killed by American citizens.  But such details are ignored in using these cases to make political points to support deporting illegal immigrants or keeping them out of the country. Instead, the outrage should be over the high number of on-duty police officer deaths which surged to 140 in 2018, up from 129 in 2017, including 5 officers who were ambushed and killed in 2018.

             Thus, Brakke emphasizes the need to look at the hard facts in a case, rather than using an incident to paint the police as the bad guys or to underplay their contribution in capturing a criminal, because the focus is on the criminal.   

              Accordingly, in Crime in America, Brakke looks at the facts and makes recommendations based on careful research on the criminal justice system and what to do fix the many problems with it.  To this end, he discusses the major parts of the criminal justice system, including the police, courts, and prisons, and he has chapters on how to deal with the opioid crisis, illegal immigrations, and the deep divisions in American society. He also has extensive statistics showing the relationship between reduced incarceration, lower recidivism, and rehabilitation for prisoners and ex-cons. 

             Now, based on his research and recommendations in his book, he is reaching out to legislators and governors to consult with them on the best approaches to criminal justice reform in their jurisdiction.  His hopes to use his book to reach out to Federal and state government officials, politicians, and the media to help implement some of his recommended changes.            

             In writing his book and working as a consultant, Brakke brings to the table a unique conservative approach to crime and criminal justice, since usually liberals discuss ways to reform the system through more of a social welfare approach.  But Brakke uses an approach that is more based on an economic business model of doing what works most efficiently to both cut down costs and create more productive citizens.

             Brakke has also made 30 videos featuring highlights from the book which are available on the American Leadership Books YouTube channel at https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCfHgXXiW3jgODnaypgcYZFw/videos/upload

             To learn more, you can get a copy of Crime in America, which is now available through Amazon, Kindle, and major bookstores.  It is currently available on Kindle for free during its special KDP Select Promotion at https://www.amazon.com/Crime-America-Conservatives-Approaches-Criminals-ebook/dp/B07MKZG84Z.  Also, free copies are available for government officials who are seeking ways to reduce crime and fix the criminal justice system and for members of the media at www.crimeinamericathebook.com.

            For media copies of the book, more 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