AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JUNE 2017 17 RICHARD COSTELLO VINCENT CARLONE OPINION/EDITORIAL When ratings are the only concern, we lose T he United States has been struck again with a terrorist attack, from both within and outside our borders, and law-enforcementseemspow- erless against this threat. The rising death toll of 20- something-year-olds from overdose deaths related to opioids and heroin cannot even be accurately count- ed. If not for medical science savesthroughtheadministra- tion of Narcan, there would be 10 times the amount of deaths, likely far more than any of the combined wars of the last twenty years. The whole country is well aware of who is respon- sible and no one is saying a thing. The pharmaceutical com- panies, at the height of the market, were making a bil- lion dollars per year from opioid sales, and they knew what they were selling was heroin in pill form which looks like medicine. They also were well aware that the “medicine” would be in every medicine cabi- net in the country and our children and their friends would be exposed to it. They knew the dangers but they chose to profit at the expense of our children’s lives. Here’s what they did. They developed the vari- ous pills which are made up of the simplest form of heroin. Then they heavily S everal years ago, the mega-rich mo- guls who own the media stumbled onto a gold mine they call “Reality TV.” Prior to this, half hour or full hour dramas or situation comedies were the usual prime time broadcast fare. These scripted shows meant high production costs for writers, actors, costumes, sets and music. Costs were covered bysell- ing advertising. Profits were reasonable but not great due to the expensive production costs. Then along came “Real- ity TV.” Relying on the old maxim that everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame, the media moguls were able to entice people to participate for little or no cost in return for providing them with na- tionalexposure ontelevision. And a whole new world of profit opened up. Reality TV drastically cut the high costs of production but the sale of advertising continued without interrup- tion,resultinginmuch bigger profit margins. “Reality” shows started popping up everywhere like weeds in the spring. It wasn’t long before the intense competition for view- ers led TV news programs to adopt some of the “Reality TV” concepts. The news now had to be entertaining. As thoughtful people soon realized, there is nothing “real” about “Reality TV.” No one acts natural when wired for sound and followed around by a camera crew. These shows are quietly edited and choreographed behind the scenes to create the illusion of reality. While this illusion may work for programs that are strictly entertainment, it becomes far more dangerous when adopted by the people cover- ing the news. News stories must now be enhanced and dramatized to increase the “entertainment” factor and draw viewers. Cooperation, conciliation and peace keeping are con- sidered boring. On the other hand, conflict sells advertising. Hatred sells advertising. And blood sells advertising. If the anticipated reactions to a story do not appear naturally, they can be quietly “arranged.” Special effects are not limited to movies. Clever camera angles can make a “crowd” of ten look like a hundred. And into this volatile, dan- gerous situation rides the patrol officer trying to do a difficult and often dangerous job. Law enforcement offi- cers are the agents society has charged with protecting people, sometimes through the use of deadly force. And in today’s world this is gold for prime time news cover- age. And make no mistake, every deadly force incident is extremely traumatic to everyone involved. The truth will only be revealed through a proper, thorough and complete in- vestigation by a competent authority. But prime time news doesn’t have the time to wait for the truth. The shock value is what sells, not the truth. And if the proper shock value does not naturally de- velop, it will be “enhanced” with pre-fabricated inter- views and insinuations about racial overtones. The media moguls dis- covered a long time ago that racial tension sells advertis- ing. So they will inflame the tension if it is there or they will attempt to create it if it is not present. And if they successfully provoke a retaliatory attack on law enforcement like happened in Dallas or Baton Rouge, they will be there to cover the funerals and at- tempt to provoke some more animosity. Either way, these people are making lots of money by instigating violence and tragedy. So remember that the next time a news van pulls up when on you are out on the street, make sure you don’t become part of their “reality show.” Richard Costello is a retired Philadelphia police officer and a member of the Philadelphia FOP Lodge #5. marketed them. They hired good looking young men and women to go to every doctor’s office all over the country to deliver samples of the pills. They sent doc- tors on junkets and free trips in exchange for using their products which they knew were deadly. When the Centers for Dis- ease Control (CDC) called it an epidemic they tried to sue the CDC. Even when they saw the tragedies unfolding they kept pushing these pills worse than any drug dealer I’ve ever met in 37 years of being a police officer. Once they were forced to admit their complicity for the skyrocketing heroin deaths they reluctantly reined it in a bit, but all those millions of people kept using the heroin because they were already hopelessly addicted. Now here’s the thing. We sued the lead paint companies and won for far less egregious conduct. We sued the tobacco companies and prevailed for far less egregious conduct. Why are our attorney generals from every state not suing the pharmaceutical compa- nies? I think the answer is obvi- ous. The drug companies have bought off our repre- sentatives and politicians from all over the country through donations to po- litical campaigns. Otherwise every attorney general in the country would be suing them for a massive and un- necessary loss of life. Vincent Carlone is the police chief in Block Island in Rhode Island – one of the most beauti- ful places in the world. The drug kingpins “And then the lying mayor and all the television reporters were led out of the courtroom in handcuffs and brought to jail. Then all the cops got raises and and new cruisers and everyone lived happily ever after.”