Learning from Tragedy

The Navy Yard shootings should spark reform in local law enforcement The nation is once again reeling from the recent shooting at the Navy Yard facilities in Washington D.C. This cycle of shock, grief and recovery has repeated itself so many times that it has started to feel like second nature. The gun control debate regarding background checks has reignited, yet, the failure of Congress to pass meaningful gun reform indicates that little will be done on a federal level to combat gun violence. Great strides can be taken at the local level to recognize and act upon precursors of violence. Aaron Alexis past with violence and mental illness and the lack of attention paid to the warning signs he clearly exhibited should be a message to local governments that they must take the initiative to reform their law enforcement programs, creating a collective crime database (separate from the federal database) in which arrest records, records of police activity, and charges are shared between localities. As information was revealed about the shooting, the nation heard a distressing picture of the many red flags missed with gunman Aaron Alexis. Alexis had a history of violence and mental illness, but rarely were these warning signs recognized or shared with the proper authorities. Over the past ten years, Alexis displayed consistently troubling behavior, against which law enforcement authorities did little to combat. In 2004, in Seattle, Alexis was arrested for shooting the tires of another mans car, in what Alexis called an rage-filled blackout. Paperwork about the case was lost, and charges were never filed. Four years later, he spent two nights in jail after getting thrown out of a nightclub for disorderly conduct.

Alexis fired his gun into the apartment of a neighbor, about whom he had been complaining for making too much noise. No charges were filed. Alexis was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2011, against the wishes of his commanding officer who complained of erratic misconduct and recommended Alexis be generally discharged. In the month prior to the shooting, Alexis called the police and complained he was hearing voices, which he said were coming from microwave machines. And on September, 16, Alexis used his security clearance to enter the Navy Yard facility, and, with a legally-bought weapon, shot 12 men and women. Law enforcement at lower level governments must create a crime database, in which localities share meticulous information about police activity. This information should include any police incidents or arrest records, unlike the federal crime database which only requires charges to be reported. This system would catch Alexis string of violence in the decade prior to the shooting. If records were shared after the 2004 shooting incident, it would have been much more difficult for Alexis to enlist in the Navy three years later. This would likely eliminate any chance of Alexis to obtain a high enough security clearance to enter the Navy Yard facilities. If local police were able to access records of Alexis violent past after he reported being controlled by microwave machines, officials would have likely undergone a more in-depth investigation into the matter. A database of shared local crime information would allow police forces all across the country to collaborate in recognizing repeat offenders who might not be picked up by the federal database.

Lower levels of government must step up and create a system in which police information is shared. They must succeed where the federal government has failed. With a shared database of local crime information, police officials will be able to better recognize a pattern of violence or misconduct. The lives of the 12 victims at the Navy Yard should not be taken in vain. Local enforcement must create a crime database more extensive than the federal database to stop essential information from falling through the cracks.