GROUND ZER0, New York, N.Y.--Jan. 16, 2004 --  In a political year where leaders are vying to run America by attacking each other's personal qualities, one man is standing above them all in his attack on what he calls "Domestic Terrorism."

      His name is William Bratton, police chief for America's second-largest city, Los Angeles.
       He was hired to quash domestic terrorism in the City of the Angeles, where in 2002 more than 655 killings were recorded, making Los Angeles the "murder capital" of the world.
      In contrast, the Defense Department reports the total deaths in Iraq at 496.  But not all these deaths were the result of combat: 343 were the result of hostile actions and 153 attributed to non-hostile events such as accidents, heart attacks and other causes not related to hostile actions.
     That puts Los Angeles at nearly double the "hostile death rate" of Iraq.
     Comparing Los Angeles' deaths to the battle in Afghanistan, 70 of the 100 reported deaths were the cause of non-hostile events.    During the Persian Gulf War, according to the Department of Defense, half of the 382 deaths were non-hostile.
     Los Angeles in one year, 2002, recorded more "hostile" deaths than the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf War combined.
     But, one man is changing that.   He's the Sentinel of Domestic Terrorism.  And his antidote to crime is putting more Sentinels of Vigilance on the streets and empowering them to attack the Beast of Crime Terror with the ferocity of a bulldog protecting its young.

      Chief Bratton, who served as the police commissioner for New York City from 1994-1996 and cut the homicide rate in the Big Apple by 50 percent, assumed the role as police chief in Los Angeles in October 2002.
      He states the problem clearly, without window dressing:  "We have a domestic-terrorist problem here--gangs."   To attack the gangs, he charges individual offices to be accountable for offenses in their neighborhoods and has shortened the civilian-complaint process.
      Essentially, he's made each cop the Sentinel of Crime Vigilance for his or her specific area, and backed up his troops with more troops, saying:  "The penicillin for dealing with crime is cops."
      Sociologists don't agree.   They often cite the economy and joblessness and environment as the sources of increased criminal behavior.   Bratton refutes that crime can be resolved by focusing on the atmosphere around it, and takes the more fundamental approach of crime equals punishment.
      The citizens of the areas he has increased police actions in agree with Bratton.   The black and Latino communities, which disproportionately suffer from the high murder rate, have lauded Bratton for making their communities safer.
      I applaud Bratton's approach.  He is willing to face the Beast of Terror, in this case, Domestic Terrorism,  with the same force the Bully Beast applies.   He puts the Sentinel of Vigilance directly in the path of the Beast of Terror.

       Crime rates are a symbol of a community's Complacency or Vigilance against physical Terrorism.  The higher the degree of crime, the more entrenched Terrorism is within the community.   Terrorism--Fear, Intimidation and Complacency--seeps into the marrow of a community when the citizens of that community are overpowered.
      New York City is one example.  Prior to Bratton's forceful leadership, New York City was a cesspool of crime.   He drove a wedge between the criminal and the community by charging the police with individual responsibility to protect their areas of responsibility.
      In Los Angeles, he does the same.  He walks the beat with his troops, visiting them and going on patrols to set an example.
      In many ways, he's a role model of a Parent of Vigilance.   He's not afraid to fight "fire with fire."   
      Our children face all forms of "Domestic Terrorism" just like the citizens of any crowded community do.   In our children's minds are many dark corners and alleys filled with shadows, doubts, Fears, Intimidations and Complacencies.
      Most often, our children don't express openly the dangers of their Emotional Community.   The reason they don't tell us:  "Mommy, I'm afraid I'm not pretty enough," or "Daddy, I'm afraid I'm not smart enough," or "Gramma, I'm afraid I'm not loved enough," is because we don't commit to patrolling the dark corners of a child's mind where the Beast of Terror lurks in the shadows, eager to attack a child's sense of worth, his or sense of emotional value.

     Inside a child's mind the Beast, unchecked, will mug the child's security at every twist and curve of life.    A harsh word by a parent, a statement such as "Don't bother me now, can't you see I'm busy," is as devastating to child as a gun to the head.    The child feels abandoned and is weighted by a sense of despair, not unlike a community member in a crime-riddled war zone.
      The Principles of Vigilance remind the parent that he or she can do what Chief Bratton has done in New York City, Boston, and now Los Angeles.   By "policing" the Beast of Terror the crime rate in a child's mind can be reduced.

      When a Parent of Vigilance sits with his or her child and talks about how Courage can overpower Fear, and how Conviction can shove Intimidation out of the way, and the importance of Right Actions that benefit future generations to quash Complacency--that feeling of powerlessness and helplessness--the child sees hope and shafts of light brightening the dark tunnels of his or her Emotional well being.
       Parents who assume their children are "free" of the Beast of Terror's wrath, and don't patrol the innermost feelings of the child, leave the door open for the child to become a victim of Emotional Terrorism.
       Chief Bratton recognizes that the only way to counter the Beast is to patrol the streets and to act with Vigilance.
       Prior to his taking over the Los Angeles police force, many cops were reluctant to be aggressive in the battle against crime.   The 1991 Rodney King case where police were caught on tape using what many called "extreme force" to subdue him, made the police reluctant to get out of their patrol cars except in the face of the most severe criminal acts.    This Complacency allowed crime to soar.   Criminals, recognizing the hesitation, the Intimidation of the police, took advantage of the gap between Right Actions and Complacency.   

      Chief Bratton made the 77th division, where the Rodney King event occurred, his prime target.   In fifteen months, his Vigilance worked.   Homicides in the 77th dropped 45 percent, from 118 the previous year to 65.
        For parents, this is a lesson in remembering that the great Police Chief of Vigilance for children are the mothers and fathers, grandparents and loved ones who sit with a child and share with him or her the Principles of Vigilance.
        Parents who fearlessly share with their children that they have Fears, Intimidations and Complacencies, and call them by their names--The Beast Of Terror's footprints--are taking the first step toward cutting the crimes the Beast commits inside a child's mind by making the child feel "less than," "not as loved as," "not as worthy as..."   When the parents remind the child that each of these Triads of Terrorism can be overcome by Courage, Conviction and Right Actions, they open a door between themselves and the child.
       They become the Sentinel of Vigilance, patrolling the streets of the child's well-being, on guard against feelings and attitudes that may ultimately demean a child into thinking he or she is not as worthy or valuable as another.
       A parent who becomes a Chief of Vigilance Police, in the likeness of Chief Bratton, will be willing to walk in the child's shoes.    He or she will not be afraid to speak about his or her own Fears, Intimidations or Complacencies, and how he or she must fight to overpower them so the Beast of Terror does not win and control the neighborhood that exists between the ears of the parent.
       The process can be fun.   A parent can share with a child how he or she overcame a troublesome situation that could have made them feel badly about themselves, and then ask the child how he or she overcame something similar that day.
       Parents and children can build bridges of trust, based on the mutual respect that each is looking out for the other.
       In the former crime-ridden neighborhoods of Los Angeles, the citizens who once looked upon the police with Fear or Resentment, are now helping support them in their goal of making the neighborhoods safer for themselves and their families.

    The unity between a child and parent can be knitted by common purpose.  When both child and parent bond as one to fight Fear with Courage, and battle Intimidation with Conviction, and to take Right Actions that benefit the Children's Children's Children rather than fall into states of Complacency, the Beast runs for cover.

        Become the Chief of Family Vigilance in your home.
        Reduce the Emotional Crime Rate caused by unwarranted Fear, Intimidation and Complacency in your children and yourself.
        Put on the Badge of Vigilance.    And then put one on your children and loved ones.   The only loser in this battle will be the Beast of Terror.
       If you're not sure, ask Chief Bratton.