The Alta Vista Hospital Incident - Research Paper Example

Section/# The Alta Vista Hospital Incident Oftentimes the ebb and flow of current news events allows one to lose focus upon earlier events that help to define the way that violence and criminality is both understood and responded to within our society. As a function of this, the level and extent to which varying aspects of criminality and mental illness are related are oftentimes disregarded in favor of a more simplistic approach to defining and understanding crime and its perpetrators. In seeking to draw a level of understanding with regards to the events surrounding the hostage situation that took place at Alta Vista Hospital in the fall of 1991, this particular analysis will seek to determine how critical the incident was upon society of the times, how the media sought to cover the incident, if any movies were made that further identified and/or clouded the key information surrounding the case, and the extent that the first responders and other stakeholders within the situation sought to engage with regards to the primary hostage taker. It is the hope of this author that such an analysis will bring a more clear and complete understanding of the means by which any type of violent action or hostage situation has immediate and far-reaching impacts upon society. Although it may be convenient to assume the individuals involved in the situation necessarily represent the extent of the stakeholders, the fact of the matter is that the collective society as a whole integrates with an understanding, both conscious and subconscious, with regards to such events. Finally, it must be understood that the given case in question represents something unique in the fact that the first responders sought to integrate with the threats they were faced with. Accordingly, the final segment of this brief analysis will consider the means whereby the first responders within law enforcement handled the situation in an extremely thoughtful and gentle manner. As with many incidents involving violence and hostage taking within society, the initial shock and interest that the news story generated was soon eclipsed by other newsworthy items. Once the hostage situation had drawn to a definite close and Brown was taken into custody, the instant necessarily lost a great deal of criticality for society. Furthermore although it seems rather macabre, the incident proved not to be critical to society due to the overall level of violence that was exhibited. This does not and should not serve to mean that the actions undertaken by Brown were anything short of heinous; rather, the fact of the matter is that society determined, on a subconscious level, that the death of a single hostage, Kara Row, was insufficient to warrant a further level of focus and discussion. It should be understood that the approach with which this particular author is taking is done in order to determine whether or not the incident was critical within society is based not upon a formalized sample or questionnaire passed out among shareholders of the time; rather, analysis of the news articles that surrounded September and October 1991 prove that the situation received little attention as it was ongoing and even a smaller level of attention once the trial moved forward and Brown was ultimately condemned to life imprisonment. As one might expect, by the time that Brown committed suicide in prison in 1993, such an instance barely was able to find mention within the state and local news and most certainly not within the national news. Although it can be said that the complexity and ultimate violence that is illustrated in the current structure demands that undo attention not be placed on random acts of violence that do not claim a large number of lives, as will be seen in the preceding analysis, the incident at Alta Vista Hospital was unfortunately a harbinger of many such actions to calm. Although it is not up to society to integrate with each and every act of violence and understand its determinate parts, the lack of interest that such incidents generate helps to underscore the fact that society places a diminishing level of interest upon the means by which such situations unfold and take place. A further level of analysis can be drawn to the superlative emphasis that society and the news media seems so drawn to. Whereas a random act of vicious and cruel intentioned violence can draw the interest of the news media and the society which it integrates with for a brief time, superlative acts of violence or criminality are those that garner the greater share of interest. For instance, the news and society at large seems predisposed to an obscene fascination with the most bloody the most violent the highest number of victims the greatest number of damage and other superlatives as a means of determining what level of overall focus society in general will place upon a given action. Similarly, in order to understand how critical the event was on society, it is necessary to break the event down into both a regional and national approach. With regards to the effect of the event on the region, it underscored the means by which law enforcement officials and participants within the negotiation process can be used even in smaller jurisdictions to affect a noticeable change on the outcome of an otherwise dim situation. With regards the national level, it can be asserted that little if any emphasis was paid after the situation itself was brought irresolution. This is of course the case with many such instances and can be understood within the framework of the fact that since the incident does not affect the lives and happiness of the individuals within the broader society, the overall level and extent to which understanding, appreciation, and interest can be sustained is necessarily reduced. As with most lost opportunities, the case in question, from a sociological standpoint, allows the reader/researcher to integrate with an understanding of how individuals within society understand and relate to instances of violence and terror. Such an understanding is of course necessary and important within the context of the current world in a means by which shareholders within society continue to integrate with understandings of violence as similar acts of perpetrated to a seemingly greater and greater degree. Similarly, the second section of this analysis will focus on the media coverage and whether or not it was accurate. Although it is easy to take a negative stance towards the media and claim that it purposefully bends and distorts key information to the viewing populace, the fact of the matter is that with many unfolding events, the shareholders within the media are desperately seeking to grab any number of several untold facts to present to the viewer/reader/listener. This is due to the fact that the media ultimately is able to generate profits based upon its ability to integrate new and fresh information to the viewer/listener/reader. In order to do this, certain levels of redundancy and fact checking are oftentimes rushed or, in the worst cases, nonexistent at all. With regards to the news coverage in and around the time of the incident itself, the news outlets did something of a respective job with regards to detailing as many aspects of the case as possible in as short a time as possible. However, it can be said that key information was incorrectly reported with regards to the number of hostages taken and their identities. Although this is understandable, it of course did a disservice to many individuals within the local community who were relying on prompt and accurate information to be related and with regards to the developing case and the safety of their loved ones. A general lack of information continued to exist up until the time that the hostage crisis was completely over and the suspect was in custody. To the credit of the news organizations that were reporting on the incident as it unfolded, these were almost invariably the smaller news organizations that exist within the local community. Accordingly, they neither had access to the resources or personnel necessary to integrate with the rapidly unfolding story that involved multiple hostages, law enforcement, and continual updates. Nonetheless, the media at that time was more or less able to expound upon the main aspects of the case while seeking continually to gain better and more accurate information. A further dynamic of media analysis can and should be understood with relation to the made-for-TV movie entitled “Deliver them from Evil”. Although the film relates the main motive appropriately and integrates the audience with an understanding of the actions of Brown and Row, it of course necessarily simplifies and exaggerates within other important aspects of the incident in order to make the viewer more entertained. This of course represents a common drawback to many stylized interpretations of events that affected the lives of individuals as a result of acts of violence and murder. Rather than merely being able to documents the occurrences and allow the individual to draw their own inference, such movies integrate with the viewer on a basic human level and attempts to evoke basic human understandings of right and wrong while the same time relating the case in question. Though not necessarily evil, such an approach simplifies and negates many of the contributing factors as well as personality traits of the individuals involved. Rather than presenting situations in which individuals display both good and bad, such films oftentimes can only capture a one – dimensional aspect of individuals; either fully good and noble or either fully evil and despicable. With regards to the given situation, perhaps one of the most astounding facets was the level and extent to which the first responders were able to take charge of the situation and attempt to defuse it as time went on. Although it may seem as something strange within the year 2013, 1991 represented a much different time in which local and regional law enforcement were not highly skilled in either SWAT or conflict resolution expertise. Nevertheless, rather than falling into the rut of using heavy-handed tactics to resolve the situation, the police force and other first responders at the vicinity incorporated a great deal of restraint with regards to dealing with an obviously disturbed and somewhat psychopathic Brown. Whereas many may seek to criticize the role that the interveners/first responders played within the situation, due to the fact that a death eventually resulted, there was little if anything that law enforcement officials could have done to prevent this death as it occurred within the very opening stages of the hostage taking process. A further level of skill and understanding with regards the situation was exhibited due to the fact that sharpshooters positioned in an office opposite the hospital at one point had a clear shot of Brown yet chose not to take it. This of course shows a level of restraint. Ultimately, these sharpshooters and their handlers chose not to take the shot for two specific reasons. The first of these was the fact that the conflict resolution team was currently making headway with brown as well is the fact that even a clear shot could have had the possibility of missing and/or endangering the remaining hostages that Brown had taken (Butler et al 215). Yet another level of restraint was exercised when local and regional law enforcement assets had the ability to storm the building from their SWAT assets on the roof. Again, leadership on the ground determined that the process of conflict resolution was occurring at a promising rate and should not be risked by a brash introduction of power that may result in the deaths of innocent individuals. One particular aspects of this process that continued to plague law enforcement up until the very conclusion of the hostage drama was the fact that incomplete and unclear information continually surrounded their understanding of how many hostages, what area of the building they were in, and what ultimate incentives Brown could be plied with. Further, to the credit of the first responders on the ground, the introduction of Brown’s Bishop from his local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was brought in as a means of seeking to provide something of a personal dynamic into the conflict resolution process that Brown and the law enforcement entities were engaging upon. Although there is some disagreement with regards to the effectiveness that the bishop himself played in the final decision the Brown made to surrender, it is the opinion of this author that if such a step had not been taken, the level and extent to which violence would necessarily occurred and/or Brown’s willingness to surrender would have experienced vastly different outcomes. In such a way, although law enforcement entities and first responders are nearly incessantly criticized with regards to the way in which they handle current situations, it is the opinion of this author that the first responders within this particular case did an exemplary job considering the resources, technology, and information that they had at their disposal within the current time. Although the temptation was incessantly present to use force in the situation, the restraint that the law enforcement was able to exhibit was exemplary and allowed the process of conflict resolution to take place. The take away that the reader/researcher should understand from the means by which the first responders handled the situation was that although there was not a unified understanding with regards to the best approach, the more logical and sensible approach nonetheless prevailed. As a means of analyzing and understanding the situation that has been presented within this brief analysis, the reader/researcher can help to understand the level to which society, the media, and first responders all integrated with much of the same information. Moreover, due to the fact that the developing nature of the situation continually provided all of the shareholders with continual updates in the way they should approach and consider the situation, the reader can and should understand that the level to which identification and approach to a given topic plays heavily upon the means by which an understanding and action can be affected is profound. Whereas the situation was ultimately able to end with only one death, it can and should be understood that any alternative approaches that have thus far been listed with them the analysis would likely have resulted in the deaths of several more individuals. Accordingly, as is currently seen the level in which society and the media integrated with a situation was based almost exclusively upon the scope and size that the news story illustrated. Regardless of the understanding of the different shareholders that it been discussed within this analysis, the reader can understand that each of these groups is heavily impacted and influence by dynamics within the external environment. Though it may be convenient to view law enforcement or the media is operating within their own bubble, the fact of the matter is that these institutions, as well as society at large, all are heavily impacted upon by the approach and decisions of their compounded parts. Works Cited Butler, William M., Harold Leitenberg, and G. Dwayne Fuselier. "The Use Of Mental Health Professional Consultants To Police Hostage Negotiation Teams." Behavioral Sciences & The Law 11.2 (1993): 213-221. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. Read More