Thursday, December 3, 2015

The Sun Has Gone Down on Too Many Lives This Evening

Sundown, December 2, 2015, © B. Radisavljevic
Sundown, December 2, 2015
I was glued to the TV screen for hours on Wednesday as the drama in San Bernardino, California, just a few hours away from me, unfolded. Now what was first thought to be a mass shooting is being investigated as a terrorist attack. I'm writing this just after midnight Wednesday, and by tomorrow morning, when you see this, we will know more.

No matter how much more we learn, there are still fourteen dead and seventeen wounded. Fourteen  people who went to a holiday party will never see another sunset. My heart goes out to their families. My prayers are with the wounded.

What strikes me is that this might have been prevented if the neighbors next door who thought suspicious activities were going on in the house of the shooters had just reported their suspicions to authorities. A false alarm would have caused far less harm than keeping quiet did.

The authorities have been telling people "If you see something, say something." We need to keep our eyes open for things in our neighborhoods and streets that just don't look right, that seem out of the ordinary. We need to report them, and not be afraid of being wrong. Most tips can be given anonymously. There are not enough police to be everywhere and see everything. We must all be vigilant.  We all need to play a part in keeping our cities safe.

Encourage your neighbors to be alert and speak up. Put this bumper sticker on your car. You can customize it to change background or text colors.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...