Texas mass killing echoes locally

If anything has been learned thus far from the mass killing at a Baptiste Church in Texas less than two weeks ago, it is that checks designed to keep people capable of such violence from getting their hands on firearms can be porous and ineffective.

Interviews with personnel at local law enforcement agencies, courts and sites where psychiatric illnesses are treated, gun dealers and other people who routinely work with the systems that are supposed to protect reveal that holes in the system are gaping. But there was some good news. One local law enforcement agency in particular — the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office — has developed its own method of keeping tabs on people at risk for perpetrating domestic violence crimes. And there is ample evidence in Lafourche that its proactive program has saved lives.

In the case of Devin Patrick Kelley, who killed 26 people at Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, it was the Air Force that dropped the ball during his time of service. His forced service discharge, the result of violence committed against his wife and son, was never logged with NCIC, the national crime information system, which could have prevented him from getting his hands on a weapon legally.

The background check done when someone goes to purchase a weapon is conducted through a system called NICS, maintained by the FBI. According to FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer Jr. three databases are searched altogether. The NCIC, which contains information on wanted persons and protection orders; the Interstate Identification Index, referred to by law enforcement as the “Triple-I,” which contains criminal history records; and the NICS Indices. NCIC contains 12 million records and III has 74 million criminal history records. Data at the individual agency level, from NCIC and III, is not readily available.

The NICS Indices contains 17 million records provided by local, state, tribal, and federal agencies of persons prohibited from receiving firearms under federal or state law. Typically, records submitted to the NICS Indices are not available from the Triple-I or the NCIC, or they cannot be updated in those databases to readily indicate to a user the existence of a state and federal firearms prohibition.

A person purchasing a firearm fills out a form and a clerk inputs that information into a computer. One of three responses is possible. An approval means the person can leave immediately with their purchase. A hold means that a decision will be made within three to four days because more information needs to be checked. A rejection means that the person is not approved, can forget about the purchase, and may also receive a visit from federal agents checking to see why, if they were ineligible, they were attempting to purchase a firearm.

One hole in the system, local law enforcement executives said, concerns people with psychiatric illnesses, whose commitments may go unreported.

“If you are under any psychiatric treatment it should be a law where that doctor submits your name to the ATF,” said Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter. “All the doctors have to list all the prescriptions they write. DEA knows who wrote what scrip. ATF ought to have that database. We need to see everybody going to see a mental health doctor they should not have a gun, especially if you are on medication.”

Larpenter said his deputies pick people up and bring them to hospitals for examinations and possible commitment beyond the initial observation period. But there is no reporting done in that regard that he knows of, which could result in a purchase of firearms being blocked.

Various Louisiana jurisdictions use methods of keeping track of people against whom restraining orders are issued for domestic violence.

That mass shooters who pose risks to large numbers of people may start out as violent spouses or house-mates is something that gets replayed time and again when tragedy strikes nationally.

The Louisiana Supreme Court receives notification of all restraining orders issued in the state, and that information is available statewide through its auspices.

The state data begins with input from local courts. In Terrebonne Parish, Clerk of Court Theresa Robichaux has personnel who make sure information on each restraining order gets to the state.

There are further degrees of watchfulness, however.

In Lafourche Parish Lt. Valerie Day Martinez has helped Sheriff Craig Webre develop domestic violence protocols that include tracking of respondents receiving stay-away orders because of a domestic violence potential.

“We have implemented a best practice endorsed by the Governor’s office with regard to how we track and notify,” said LPSO Lt. Brennan Matherne. “When a patrol deputy makes contact with a person at a traffic stop or at a house we have our own local system. A blue check on the computer indicates that person has a federal firearms ban due to a conviction and that we need to inform ATF of our findings. A green check on the computer means that person cannot possess a firearm because of a domestic violence protective order. Red means there is a domestic abuse condition. It takes the guesswork out of it. This is one of the most advanced things I have seen done, and it works because of cooperation of the court system and the District Attorney’s Office.”

Law enforcement officials say there is no way for them to prevent some situations, whether through background checks or the type of vetting the Lafourche system uses. And there is no way to know how many tragedies were prevented.

Lafourche shows up on state statistics as having a high per-capita rate of protective orders. But Matherne and other officials say that’s not surprising because the system there is made to be friendly when a victim needs one to be issued.

“We are assisting victims to ensure that they get the protective order,” said Matherne, expressing pride that his department’s tracking system is being taught — often by Lt. Martinez — all over Louisiana.

Domestic Violence