Interesting Rotary meeting on Wednesday! Lloyd and Lloyd are knocking it out of the park! 

We got a chance to hear from Mark Langan, author of Busting Bad Guys.  Mark has worked with the police department, the Humane society and now is an appointee for the Nebraska Parole Board.  He gave us a very interesting presentation that actually had components from all of those positions.  All three jobs in his opinion have a common factor, which is the problem of mental illness.  As a police officer he witnessed many people with mental health issues that at the time he was serving would be taken to jail.  As a Humane Society employee he dealt with animal cruelty, hoarding and dangerous dog issues which also harkened back to mental health issues.  Unstable households, parental negligence, domestic violence were areas that he had to deal with while working with the Humane Society, which seems unexpected.  Recently appointed to the Nebraska Board of Parole, he helps to determine when prisoners are eligible to be released.  In this position he continues to see the same mental illness issues he saw in his previous positions.

 

He spoke about the difficulties of being a police officer and the burden it can put on marriages and families. The number one cause of death among First Responders is suicide. He was asked how the first responders deal with the difficult situations that they see day to day.  John Ewing mentioned a program he started to help with that issue.  Mark spoke of the body cams on police officers and how officers are pleased to wear them in order to remain transparent about their interactions with people. He also mentioned that with social media the only body cam videos that we see are the ones that are the unfortunate misuse of power by an officer in spite of all the many good things police do during the day.

 

As a parole appointee the concern is that a person may get paroled and still be a menace to society.  Although there is overcrowding in the prisons, in Nebraska the board has no pressure to release people that have not met the requirements.  A person has to have done the recommended programming among other criteria in order to be released. He was asked about the release of 400 low risk offenders in Oklahoma and mentioned Nebraska State Legislature has passed a resolution to reduce the overcrowding in our prison system but is unsure how that will be accomplished.  He told us there were about 100-150 cases before the parole board every month with hearings lasting about 5-10 minutes.   Mental illness issues are rampant through the facilities, staffing is low and hard to maintain. The problem of addressing mental illness was discussed and how those resources are limited. 

Thanks to Mark Langan!

 

See you soon!

INVITATION                                  REGISTER HERE

Saturday, November 30, 2019
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM 

 

Thank you!