Our History

Hello, my name is Tom Monson and in 1986 I started Crime Prevention Resources in Medford, Oregon. We are now operating as Tom Monson Productions.

In case you are interested, I put together the history of the company.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tom Monson

Since 1986, our list of clients has grown to include many corporations, colleges, universities, and law enforcement agencies across the United States and around the World. Here are just a few:

Corporations:

Bargain Center USA – Brody’s Department Stores – Bi-Mart Corporation – Big Wheel – Bill’s Dollar Stores – Carlisle’s – Dairy Queen – Emporium – Ennens Food Store – Family Bargain Centers – Goodie’s Family Clothing – Hewlett-Packard – Hit or Miss – J. Byrons Department Stores – Jack In The Box – K-Mart – Lord & Taylor – Ltd., Inc. – Macy’s – Marshall Fields – Neiman-Marcus – Nike – Nordstrom – Leggett Stores – Pier 1 Imports – Radio Shack – Ross Stores, Inc. – Roto-Rooter – Safeway Stores – Stein Mart, Inc – Subway Sandwiches – Sony Corp.- Target Stores – Texas Instruments – Tops Markets – Walgreens, Ltd. – Walmart – and thousands of individually owned small businesses.

Colleges and Universities:

Albuquerque Technical Institute – Ashtabula Co. Economic Development – Boise State University – Boston College – Chemeketa Community College – Clarion University of New York – Clemson University – Corning Community College – Eastern New Mexico University – Florida A & M – Gannon University – Iowa West Community College – Lima Technical College – New Mexico State University – Oregon State University – Pima County Community College – Portland State University – San Juan College – South East Missouri State College – Southern Oregon State College – Texas A & M – Virginia Tech — Universities of Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Pittsburgh, Puerto Rico, Scranton, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington – and many more.

Law Enforcement Agencies:

Alaska State Troopers, Atlanta Police Department – Baltimore Police Department – Baltimore County Sheriff’s Department – Burbank Police Department – California Attorney General – Cedar Rapids Police Department – Chicago Police Department – Clearwater Police Department – Columbus Police Department -Royal Canadian Mounted Police -Dallas Police Department – Dayton Police Department – Denver Police Department – Des Moines Police Department – Detroit Police Department – Fargo Police Department – Fayetteville Police Department – Florida Attorney General – Indianapolis Police Department – Kansas City Public Library – Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office – Louisiana Attorney General – Louisville Police Department – Madison Police Department – Dade Metro (Miami) Police Department – Mobile Police Department – Montana State Police – Montreal Police Department – Nashville Police Department – Norfolk Police Department – NYPD – Omaha Police Dept. – Orlando Police Department – Pasadena Police Department – Rochester Police Dept. – Salt Lake Co. Sheriff’s Office – Savannah Police Department – Seattle Police Department – Vancouver Police Department – Wausau Police Department – and thousands more

Other Organizations

A.A.R.P., thousands of hospitals, drug treatment centers, health departments, and individuals all around the world have been using our products to make better the lives of the people they serve.

Chronological History of Crime Prevention Resources

1986

I originally founded the company with the name of the Small Business Advancement Institute. Our primary goal was to help small businesses deal with the difficulties associated with running a small business. We achieved success on a local level helping many business owners understand how to sell more of their products and services. 

1989

I was presented with an idea about a film to teach business owners how to stop shoplifting and employee theft. It was a totally different direction, but I figured it was worth a try. I produced the film.

When I first released Stop Business Crime – Shoplifting Employee Theft, we telemarketed it to retail companies and department stores with some good results. The best thing about the film was the low cost. Competing films were selling in the $200-$400 and ours was $59. I wanted to make it affordable.

I had a couple of independent distributors who were promoting it in California. One of them introduced me to Jennifer Quinlan from the Oxnard Police Department. She told me that she loved the film and the price. She told me that The California Crime Prevention Officer’s Association (CCPOA) would be interested in hearing about this film. She sent me a list of the officers and their phone numbers. So I started calling them and found that there was a huge need for the films I had produced. We had a winner.

It was so successful with crime prevention officers, law enforcement agencies, and businesses that I decided to make more crime prevention films.

I had found a profitable niche. 

1990

We began marketing the films as the Crime Prevention Unit of the Small Business Advancement Institute.

In 1990 I released my next films in the business series called Stop Business Crime Shoplifting and then Stop Business Crime Check Fraud. (Both films are no longer available.) They had a more than 10-year run and did very well.

I tried to find an investor to help with the production expenses and I was initially looking for an investment of $30,000. I calculated a few years ago that they would have received about $250,000 per year return after 10 years. I ended up funding it myself. It was hard to raise the money but in the long run, it worked out.

I was building many relationships with law enforcement agencies, colleges, businesses, high schools, and other organizations. I had hundreds of conversations with concerned people about the high growth of crime in the United States and the common thread of these crimes being substance abuse – from alcohol to methamphetamine (yes even back then).

I listened to my customers and I continually asked them what they wanted me to produce. What were the films that would help them? I kept hearing something that was accurate and would help them educate people about the problems associated with substance abuse.

I began research on the subject with the idea to produce a film or two on the subject. Since I never had a problem with drugs, how hard would it be? “Just say no.” Right?

I thought about my own life and how drugs had an impact. When I was growing up, I thought about my brother and his addiction to whatever and how when I was a child I had to deal with his drunkenness and other associated issues. I thought about one of my best friends in college who had died of an overdose and left a baby who had no daddy and a widow with no way of supporting herself and her baby. I also reflected on most recently the tragedy of a friend named Danny who got into heroin then finally killed himself because his life had become such a mess. The only problem was that he left a destitute widow and four children who were permanently scarred and devastated by his suicide. Needless to say, I was motivated to do a film on the subject.

When I dug into the subject and saw all the things that were involved, I thought it would take a little more time than I thought. (Finally, in March of 1992, I was ready and began working on the first film dealing with substance abuse.)

1991

I changed the name of the company to Educational Systems and Resources (ES&R).

This was a busy year for me. I was establishing relationships with law enforcement people, business owners, and colleges around the country.

I hired a few staff members and taught them how to sell. We had a good time selling thousands of the three films, Stop Business Crime– Shoplifting Employee Theft, Stop Business Crime – Shoplifting, and Stop Business Crime – Check Fraud.

I continued to do my research on drugs.

I also wrote another screenplay to deal with internal theft. Macys was going to fund the film. They really liked the screenplay and I had worked a deal where I was going to produce a real high-quality narrative film that would motivate people not to steal from their employers. We were at the final stages of negotiation when I received news that they filed for bankruptsy. So much for that idea. I never produced the film.

I continued the research with drugs.

1992

In 1992, I hired Don Fletcher to research a community-wide crime prevention program we decided to call Community Watch rather than Neighborhood Watch because Community Watch had a much more universal appeal and could be applied to a wider range of applications.

I was also getting close to finishing the film about drugs. The research I had done was pretty compelling and I knew that I could do something good with this film. Everything was going according to plan. Then it all fell apart.

In April of 1992, I received a phone call and was told that my 19-year-old son Matt had been killed the night before. He and his buddies were out having a good time and drinking beer at the beach. They drove home and the driver lost control of the pickup and slammed into a telephone pole. Matt was the only one killed.

There are no words that can describe how that felt. Looking back at that moment in time, it felt like I had been gutted. Everything that was important to me, everything I had worked for was gone – everything – my heart, my soul, my life, my God – everything. On that day, a big part of me died. If you have gone through it, you know what I mean. If you haven’t you’ll never know and I truly hope and pray that you never, ever find out.

For the next few months, I really didn’t do much of anything. I went to work. I worked on the Community Watch program. I buried myself in my work.

I kept working in an empty sort of way. Sure I talked to people, and I helped them solve their crime problems but nothing else. As I said, something inside of me had died.

1993

I produced a couple of films dealing with crime prevention.

Blueprint for Home Security teaches people how to make their home burglar resistant. I remember one of the officers from the Crime Prevention Unit of the LAPD told me he hated the film. He said he hated it because it did in 15 minutes what it took him an hour to do. He highly recommended the film.

Blueprint for a Safe Community was my first effort to promote Community Policing. It is a statistical piece that presented how much safer a community was when the citizens take responsibility for their own safety and work with law enforcement to keep their communities a better place to live and be.

These two films launched me into the crime prevention community of law enforcement. I was invited to all the shows and conferences and was given a heavy referral business and 1993 turned out to be a productive year.

In 1993 I was contacted by Bob Richards, Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. He was using the Shoplifting Employee Theft, Check Fraud, and Shoplifting Refund Theft in his high school business project but he couldn’t find anything that dealt with what to do in the event of an armed robbery. After some discussion, I decided to produce the film. It turned out to be my first big hit.

Armed Robbery Survival Techniques was a joint venture with Virginia Tech. Bob and I wrote it and he directed and filmed it in Virginia. He found a bunch of Ph.D. candidate students, police officers, staff, and other volunteers to act out the different scenarios in the film. I edited it here in Oregon with Mike Karpinski. The end result was a 10-minute film that taught people how to act and what to do during an armed robbery to reduce the chances of them being hurt or killed during an armed robbery. This film was huge.

Radio Shack bought hundreds of copies for their education centers, most of the major retail chains also utilized the film in their employee training. The Commonwealth (state) of Virginia bought hundreds of copies to be included in their business courses for all the high school students. Hundreds of police agencies used it as part of their business community outreach programs.

One day when I opened the mail I found a letter from a high school student from Virginia. The letter thanked her teacher for showing her Armed Robbery Survival Techniques. It turned out this girl was involved in an armed robbery and since she had seen our film, she was mentally prepared to deal with the robber and didn’t panic as she said she would have certainly done had she not seen the film. So to have someone actually believe that your work saved their life is big. That doesn’t happen very often in the film business. Since then I have received dozens of letters and calls about how the film has been helpful to people.

The film went on to sell thousands of copies and it was so successful that in 2006, I produced a remake of the original film. I updated it and released the new film as How to Survive an Armed Robbery.

1994

In 1994 I hired Ted Lawson to help with the Community Watch Administration Manual. He helped edit it and made sure it covered all the points. His work with numerous not-for-profit organizations had qualified him in a unique way to contribute some real substance to the book and program.

In the spring we finished the Community Watch Administration Manual, The Block Captain’s Handbook, and The Citizen’s Guide to Community Watch. All told, it took us about a year and a half to do all the research and write them. Don and Ted had contacted dozens of successful watch programs all around the US and spent over a thousand hours interviewing and researching to complete the product. It is full of charts, sample press releases, tons of the forms necessary to set up a program, detailed instructions on everything you need to keep it going. The sections include Planning, Communications, Management, Volunteers, Implementation, Meetings, Programs, Homeland Security (added after 9/11/2001), Motivation, Promotion and Publicity, Resource Development, and Evaluation.  

I had spent close to $100,000 producing it, nearly bankrupting the company in the process. Now that I had it, it was time to get out and sell it.

The first week I had the first copy in my hands I hit the road. I traveled down I-5 presenting it to police departments and sheriff’s officers along the way from Medford, Oregon, and Los Angeles, California. 19 of the people I presented it to said they had to have a copy. My initial price was a $295 introductory price which was discounted from $495. Even at that seemingly high price, it was a huge hit. The departments knew that it would save them hundreds of staff hours to get the same information and still be lacking. It helped that there was nothing on the market like it. (To my knowledge there is still nothing like it.)

(In 2003 I hired David Sours to bring it up to date and add additional information to deal with terrorism and some of the threats that come with it. When we released the Third Edition, the price had come down to $54.95.)

So in 1994, I published the Citizen’s Guide to Community Watch. It is an educational book that teaches people how to be part of a Community Watch Group and I rewrote it several times to include terrorism information and crime prevention tips.

In 1994 I also published The Block Captain’s Handbook. It was developed to give a block captain everything he or she needs to set up and run a small group of citizens to keep their neighborhood or small community a safer place to be. This has been a very popular book and is also offered today also by the National Association of Town Watch.

One day I was called by the Poly Klaas Foundation and asked about putting on a presentation about Community Watch to the community of Petaluma, California.

Poly Klaas was the little girl who was abducted from her bedroom in October of 1993 and murdered by a sub-human, scum bucket named Richard Davis.

I really wasn’t ready to make a public presentation of this type but decided that it was the best thing to do. When I got there, I met Eve Nichol, Poly Klaas’ mom. I could see her pain. I felt her pain. I knew that she was carrying enough. I didn’t share my story with her.

I gave the presentation and it went well. I had a chance to meet people in Petaluma and learned a lot about the abduction and how a neighbor had seen Davis lurking around the house and never even called the police. If he had, I believe there would have been no abduction or need for me to go give the speech. I became emotionally attached to the story and thought about it for quite some time.

In 1994, I began producing a film for KOBI 5M a local television station and NBC affiliate. I presented the idea of “A Line in the Sand, Taking a Stand Against Crime” to the owner, Patsy Smullen and after some deliberation, she agreed. I had made several short films to teach but this was my first television production. The film was about how we as citizens have the power to make a difference. It was based on the abduction of a little girl from her bedroom paralleled against a girl who had been taught what to do if someone tried to abduct her. It is a powerful film that brought tears to many a tough police officer who views it.

The initial broadcast received an 8 market share rating and was nominated for a 1995, Emmy award. I wasn’t impressed with the nomination because I wasn’t producing for recognition or awards. I thought the market share was good because that meant thousands of people saw the film and heard the message and would be interested in working harder to make a difference in their communities. I was right.

Within a few days, I received dozens of letters and phone calls asking me how people could get involved and police departments wanting to hear more about Community Watch. I had several police agencies in my region ask me to speak to community groups and help them promote Community Watch.

I achieved a short-lived local celebrity status but that didn’t matter except that it made me more credible.

I received a call from Al Ward, president of The International Society of Crime Prevention Practitioners (ISCPP). They wanted some information about community watch and were very interested to see that we had referenced Sir Robert Peal in the film Line in the Sand – Taking a Stand Against Crime.

He invited me to speak at the convention. I said “Sure. I would be glad to. By the way, how many people will be there?” He told me that the typical convention had around 300 people. That was another, “What did you just do?” I didn’t want to give the presentation to that many people and I wasn’t ready to get up in front of all the police officers from around the world but my financial status was such that I really needed to. I was warmly welcomed to the convention and made some pretty important contacts including the contact with the ISCPP. That turned out to be a very important connection for the next few years. And it didn’t hurt because I sold lots of manuals, and films at the conventions.

1995

I spent most of 1995 marketing and distributing the Community Watch System.

I released for distribution A Line in the Sand Taking a Stand Against Crime. This film was purchased by hundreds and then thousands of law enforcement agencies and they wanted more. Most of the cops who became my friends wanted as we all do a happy ending. The best thing about this film was that it validated why most people go into law enforcement. To help people. I know that it is not a popular idea, but even today I believe it is true. I have known many cops who feel the same way.

They wanted to know how to do Community Watch better and I received hundreds of requests for all types of training material and the good news was that I had already produced what they were looking for.

In 1995 I produced Reducing the Odds – Personal Safety Techniques a high-quality film about personal safety and how to avoid being a crime victim. I produced it for NBC but they never picked it up. Sales of Reducing the Odds were nothing to write home about but it was pretty and I did produce it for NBC. At the very least it looked good on my resume. 

The pitch went something like “learn how to protect yourself from rape, robbery, burglary, and other crimes.” In just 12 minutes, you can learn simple yet effective methods that anyone can use to increase their safety while decreasing their chances of becoming a crime victim. Through a variety of scenarios, we show common sense techniques that can be used by persons of any age group.

1996

I incorporated the business and changed the name to Advantage Source, Inc.

I had a police sergeant tell me a story about a drunk driver who had run over a five-year-old child. With tears in his eyes even 20 years later he told me how this drunk was beating the dead child’s mangled remains for ruining his life. I heard that story many years ago and even though I didn’t see it for myself the memory is as if I had seen it myself.

In 1996 I produced a film called Community Policing the Citizen’s Role. It is about how to report suspicious activity and why. It is a big seller and has been used by thousands of law enforcement agencies around the world to teach people the proper way to report crimes.

This film was another big success with law enforcement. I guess it was because I always tried to make law enforcement look good. I discovered that most people felt the same way. Much like we feel about our military and how necessary they are. As a people, I think we don’t really like the concept of war and killing but realize that it is part of life and as I always said, we really need someone who is willing to kick in a door not knowing what is on the other side.

In 1996 I also produced Community Policing the Block Captain’s Role. It taught people how to manage a block watch group. This is really popular with community watch programs because all you have to do is loan it out to someone, give them a Block Captain’s Handbook, and bam you have a block captain who knows how to set up a program and keep a neighborhood or small community safe and crime resistant.

In 1996 I also produced a small series called Zero Tolerance which deals with workplace violence prevention and then I produced Workplace Violence, Dealing with a National Epidemic. These three films really give people a reason to do something about workplace violence and show them how they can do something about it. To make it, I flew in a group of experts who had all the answers. Bill Farber from Alaska, Branch Walton from the Secret Service, Al Ward from Washington, Paula Baron, Esquire from Portland, and several others who all participated in the development of this important film. These people were experts in the field and all offered solutions to violence in the workplace. These films are all strongly endorsed by workplace violence experts from all parts of the US.

The films found their way to Jurg W. Mattman, CPP the Cofounder and Executive Director of the Workplace Violence Research Institute. They reviewed the films and found them to be excellent and highly recommended them.

This series was so successful that the Centers for Disease, Control, and Prevention invited me to teach a track at National Violence Prevention Conference in Des Moines, IA. Of course, I went and taught. It was there that I met a very nice man from Brown County Wisconsin named Don Chalmers who is an Oneida American Indian. He told me about his tribe and how they cherish their youth. It gave me an idea for another film and/or book. More on that later.

I was also invited to present Community Watch at a joint crime prevention Officer’s conference for the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. There were several hundred officers there. (I had established a good working relationship with Bill Farber. He asked me to teach Community Watch with him to law enforcement agencies. I agreed thinking it would be interesting and a good way to promote Community Watch.). We had an hour to present the Community Watch workshop we had designed. We divided up the time equally and he spoke first.

He did a wonderful job. He was smooth and confident with his presentation. When my turn came, my heart was in my throat. I was terrified and felt totally intimidated but had no place to go so I said I may as well get it done so I could get the heck out of there. I began a little shaky – as I was talking, I was screaming in my head for help – but I persisted. There was a time when I totally forgot what I was supposed to say next. I froze for at least ten seconds but finally decided to finish with a story of the Poly Klaas presentation. When the presentation was finally over, I left the podium and went off stage, and met Bill at the base of the stage. I told him what a great job he did and I told him how scared I was. He told me that he thought he had done a poor job and that I was the one who seemed so comfortable. Then one of the officers walked up to Bill and me and said that we gave one of the best presentations he had seen and he especially liked the pause I inserted in the speech at the exact spot to make it much more dramatic. This became a very valuable lesson for me.

Bill and I went on to teach classes across the western half of the US. The three-day class taught people how to set up a Community Watch program. We had a lot of fun, always got rave reviews and we made many friends. Those were some more good old days.

In the summer of 1996, I also produced a little film about bicycle safety for kids. It was called Andy’s Bicycle Safety Video. It was a simple strategy of having a kid who was a little older teach the younger ones about bicycle safety. Not brain surgery just a simple film teaching the basics. We all know that as children we don’t really look to, nor can we relate to adults. But we look up to the kids that are a couple of years ahead of us. This was a really big hit and we got orders from Canada and Singapore and other places. We received a couple of awards for the film.

1997

Drug Wars begins

It was 1997 and I had achieved some big hits, best sellers and had carved a real niche for myself with the crime prevention community. But I was still not addressing my loss and pain and doing something about the death of my son. I was kind of functioning as a person again but still, there was something terribly wrong with me. Then something changed.

I woke up one day with the intention to produce a film about the dangers of drinking and driving. I knew that there were a large number of films on the subject but I had a different angle in mind.

So my first action was to begin my research for the new film. When I begin a film, my first order of business is to find out what people want to know. The best way to find out is to talk to people. If you talk to a few people, you mostly have opinions. If you talk to hundreds, you have research.

I wanted to know what people thought of the subject and what their perceptions were. I know I had my own ax to grind and it wasn’t about that.

I remember talking to a waitress at a popular locally-owned sandwich shop. She asked me what I was doing and I told her that I was working on a film about drugs. Then her whole demeanor changed. She went from a pleasant, attentive server to a shrew. She bristled as she told me that she would rather her son smoke marijuana than eat processed sugar. I told her “OK, I’ll write that one down.”

Mostly what I saw and understood from the common guy or gal on the street was that they really didn’t think it affected them and they really didn’t care one way or the other. (I later learned that this form of societal denial was normal and most people who had a family member with a problem, didn’t understand what was happening and just sort of turned their back on the person or ignore the problem.)

I set up an interview with Dr. Jack Stump, an emergency room physician. My intention was to talk with him about the dangers of drinking and driving. I knew he would have a lot of first-hand knowledge about accidents involving drunk drivers. I knew that alcohol was the biggest drug problem and was surprised by what he told me.

He told me the biggest problem he was seeing, as an emergency room physician, involved Methamphetamine and the damage and pain it was causing people. I always thought that methamphetamine was some kind of speed because I knew what amphetamines were. I learned that Meth was nothing like the speed of the sixties and seventies. I set up another interview with him with the camera turned on. This was the first interview I did for the Drug Wars Series.

I went on to do more than 50 hours of filmed interviews with everyone who knew anything about the subject. I interviewed drug counselors, physicians, pharmacists, drug enforcement officers, and addicts. I got the whole picture about meth. I heard a hundred stories and none were good. None had a happy ending unless it ended with, “and then I got off drugs.”

As I learned about Methamphetamine and how it affects the users, the signs, and how users act, it occurred to me that one of my sons had displayed many of the symptoms talked about. I asked him if he was using meth and he told me he was. All of a sudden, it wasn’t me just making another film it was me trying to save another child – mine. The stakes just became urgent and immeasurable. It was now a case of life and death for this film. If I made it right, I believed I could save the life of my son. I didn’t want to think of the alternative. So the steaks were high and I put everything I had into the film. I quit everything else in my life and poured everything I had into it.

In September of 1997, I released Drug Wars – Crank County – a film about the whole picture of methamphetamine. It was a compilation of stories of people who were involved. Nothing made up nothing stages, all facts told by everyone who had anything to do with meth. I took the first copy and gave it to my son and told him that he should watch it. He watched it and even though it took him a little while, the end result is that today he is clean. He now has some health issues that may be related to meth use. I’ll never know for sure but at the very least I didn’t have to bury him.

Following this release, I initiated a marketing effort to law enforcement agencies and added a new component – drug treatment centers. The response was overwhelming.

My sales pitch was simple: “When you see this film, you will want to show it to everyone who will sit down long enough to watch it. High Schools, Churches, YMCA, PTA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and anyone who will sit down to watch it.”

I also took the finished film to a friend of mine, Kingsley Kelly who was then the General Manager and Vice President of Freedom Communications in Medford Oregon and he agreed to run it on December 31 at 8:00 PM – Another prime-time debut of a Monson film. In the weeks that followed I received over a hundred calls, comments, and emails from people expressing gratitude for putting the film on the air.

1998

Over the next six months or so the calls and the inquiries about Drug Wars – Crank County exploded. I was hearing from treatment centers around the country and I was able to put a map together that showed the hot spots of meth use in the US and I predicted that within 10 years this would be one of the biggest drug problems in US history. (I am sorry to say that I was right.)

I got a call from a drug treatment center in Saint Louis MO. The counselor told me that he showed the film to a group the night before and it had really hit home and his audience of biker types were really moved and educated by the film.

One of the people in the film, Ed Mayer of the JACKNET a joint law enforcement agency located in Jackson County. He had gone to the FBI Academy at Quantico VA. He told me that he had been approached by several people who saw him in the film. He said he had no idea that the film could have had such an impact and far reach. I didn’t either. It turned out that we distributed thousands of copies of the film all around the world.

In the meantime, I was called by a friend who told me that his wife’s brother had been involved with heroin and I should talk to her. I set up an interview for the following week.

After a brief interview with her and seeing how articulate she was and how her story was so powerful, I set up an interview with her to film. I filmed a two-hour interview where she told me the story of her brother Eric and how he had experimented with drugs and eventually had a marijuana joint laced with heroin. That was his undoing. He was hooked. He tried 26 times to quit only to fail 26 times. On his 25th time, he was clean for a period of time when he met a girl and fell in love with her and her little boy who became very fond of Eric. Sadly Eric relapsed and overdosed. Linda told how Eric’s death impacted the family and especially the little boy. As I drove away from the interview, I knew that there was another story that had to be told. I found myself weeping.

When I had a rough cut edited, with no graphics, just Linda with rough cuts between sentences no bells or whistles, I wanted to get some reactions and see if the story would be viewed by others as I saw it. I started showing it to people in the prevention business and the treatment world.

I took it to a meeting of a local drug counsel and played it for them. The audience was mesmerized and was glued to the screen during the presentation. When the film ended the audience was quiet and finally, one of the drug treatment directors said, “Every drug addict should see this film.”

I knew this was another important film and it needed to get it out there. Finally, late in 1998, I released Drug Wars – One Family’s Battle. It is the true story of Eric, his life and death as a drug addict, and how his bad choices affected the lives of his family and friends. 

That year we received several awards from the Southern Oregon Film and Video Association for both Drug Wars – Crank County and Drug Wars – One Family’s Battle. (Some people refer to Southern Oregon as Hollywood North because there are so many film companies and executives here.)

When I received the awards, I just took them and said thanks. It wasn’t what I was looking for. It was a fun evening and I met someone who would play a very important part in my life. Paddy Schweitzer was the epitome of all curmudgeons and I grew to love the old guy.

1999

The Drug Wars – One Family’s Battle was a phenomenal hit with drug treatment and prevention centers, as well as with teachers, counselors, and school resource officers, throughout the country. We sold thousands of them.

Most of my crime prevention clients didn’t seem too interested in the story for whatever reason.

The film was so powerful and the message so important that I wanted to get it on television in my community of Medford, Oregon. I took it to several of the television stations and they were all interested in putting it on the air. So I started to market the sponsorships to help pay the expenses of the broadcast. We got a lot of community support. All I had to do was to show the film and they stepped right up. We had about a hundred businesses support us on some level.

I started production of Drug Wars – Kickin’ Butts in 1999. I had the concept of a quitting smoking film showing someone who wanted to quit and film the process. I looked around and found a gal Dianne Vetter who told me that she wanted to quit and I told her that I would like to film her as she did so. This film took a long time to film because we were doing it in real-time and the interaction with Dianne and her family was perfect.

2000

In January of 2000, I got together with local law enforcement agencies, hospitals, drug treatment, and prevention centers, business owners, and television stations in and around Medford to broadcast Drug Wars – One Family’s Battle on all the TV stations at the same time. The broadcast was called a roadblock and was a huge success. It had never been done before. The response from the community was amazing. Hundreds of calls, emails, and comments came in and the television stations. I figured that the audience was somewhere around 150,000 people.

John Kitzhaber the governor of Oregon heard about the broadcast and a few months later presented me with the Outstanding Media Award for Improving Alcohol and Drug Services for the Citizens of the State of Oregon by my contribution of Drug Wars – One Family’s Battle. When I went up to accept the award, I told the governor that I couldn’t’ accept it. I paused for a couple of seconds and watched as he became a little uncomfortable and then I said, “At least I can’t accept the award without acknowledging the contributions of all those who had helped with the film.” I was just messing with him a little. (Hey how often can you mess with the governor of your state?) But once again, receiving this award was kind of empty for me. It wasn’t what I was looking for.

The feedback was amazing and the only complaint I received about the film was from a lady who had lost a child to a drunk driver. She asked me why I wasn’t doing something about the real problem people were facing – teen drinking. I could feel her pain and knew how she felt and I knew what she was talking about. I didn’t share my story with her but I had already been thinking of another film that dealt with teen drinking. I finally had the courage to make a film about the villain that had taken my boy. In fact, I had already sketched out an outline of a film that I felt would be better than what else was on the market at the time and would bring the point home to teenage viewers.

Drug Wars – The High Times was my third film about substance abuse. This film focused on teen drinking and how it is dangerous and not cool. This time I wrote a screenplay and used actors. It was totally acted but based on research I had done. In making the film, I had a lot of help from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and I felt it had a great message. During the casting call, a young kind of goofy character showed up and really impressed me. I thought he could be good as the leading role. So I hired Joel David Moore to play the lead. I also found a knock-out supermodel, Nina Smidt to play another one of the main characters. Gretchen Stout played the lead opposite Joel. I always thought she would go far. She is a terrific actress and put her heart into the film. I know that there were young men all around the country that must have had a crush on her.

In the past, I had hired directors to direct the shots and camera angles. My main function was as a writer and executive producer. I put all the pieces together. We had hired a director and everyone showed up the first night for shooting and no director. The guy we had hired didn’t show and hadn’t bothered to call. I had a whole crew there and the expense clock was ticking about $700 to $800 per hour so after about $200 worth of waiting. I decided to do the only thing I could. “I’ll direct it!” I said. I then proceeded to direct my first film Drug Wars – The High Times.

There’s a scene in the film where one of the characters had too much to drink and became really sick – sick enough for his friends to take him to the hospitals. During the visit to the emergency room the physician explains the dangers and effects drinking can have on a body; including damage to the liver, brain, and sexual performance of the drinker.

In June, rented a convention center for the premiere and invited several hundred people I had connected with during the previous Drug Wars roadblock and everyone else I knew. There were at least 200 people there. I had hired a couple of radio personalities to MC the event. It was a real affair and we all had a blast. The film was warmly received and the kids really liked it.

A friend of mine told me about a conversation that she had with her son Nick on the way home from the premiere. The conversation started with 10-year-old Nick being reflective. It went something like this: “Mom, I think I am going to wait until I am 21 before I start drinking.” Nick said. “Oh Nick, that is such a good decision,” Nick’s mom told him. “How did you come up with that decision?” He looked at her like she was really dumb, she told me later, and then he said, “Didn’t you hear what the doctor said?”

I’ve told that story a hundred times because it perfectly illustrated what I was trying to do with the film – get the kids into the story and educate them about the dangers of alcohol.

I went back to the television stations to see if I could pull off another roadblock and without missing a beat they all agreed. I had about 100 sponsors to help pay the costs and for the second time, we had it lined up to take our message to more than 150,000 people. In order to enhance the sponsors’ return on investment, I produced a comic-book discussion guide to go along with the film and distributed it through the distributors.

I received a call from a group in Eugene Oregon called NARC an organization with the mission to deal with illegal drugs in the area. They had heard about Drug Wars – One Family’s Battle and wanted us to do a roadblock in Eugene. I told them how difficult it was and how expensive. They told me that they would do most of the work and help get the word out. After much consideration, I agreed to do it. I had a man named Les Couch working for me at the time that was a gifted salesperson. He did a lot of the initial setup work and I was out talking to potential sponsors. I first contacted all the television stations and got a preliminary agreement to go forward.

The cost of the air time was huge and I committed to it. I wasn’t worried because I had the support of the group. Due to one of the stations not committing to the broadcast until the station manager had everyone convinced that it was his idea to do the roadblock I got a real late start in the sales of the sponsorships. I had a real hard time getting sponsors to help save kids from drug abuse. I used some pretty high-pressure tactics to get the attention of the people in Eugene. There were a few that helped but the sales were really low. When I finally ran out of time for the broadcast I realized that we were about $20,000 short to pay all the expenses. I decided to go ahead anyway because I told them that I would get it done and I knew that I was going to do well in Southern Oregon.

In the summer I was contacted by Oregon Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking (OCRUD). They were formed to curb the problem of youth drinking as the name indicates. I met with them and after several discussions; I laid out a plan where we could put a copy of Drug Wars – The High Timesfilm, a High Times Comic Discussion Guide, and a Drug Wars – High Times Teacher’s Guide into every 5th grade class in the State of Oregon and teach every Oregonian fifth-grader, like we taught Nick and so many others, that drinking alcohol when you are young is dangerous. I estimated that we could do it for less than $60,000. About the same as it cost to house one prisoner for one year. They thought the task was too daunting and didn’t want to get involved. I told them that I felt the children of Oregon were worth us taking on a daunting task. I hated to hear that word.

It was fall and I had to get busy with the roadblock broadcast. There were sponsorships and details with the film that I had to take care of. I couldn’t waste too much time working with people who were willing to sit on the sidelines while our kids were being killed and going down a destructive path by using alcohol. If you see the film, you will understand why children should not drink. It isn’t just the dangers of drinking and driving it is the physical damage that could be caused.

2001

In early January we did our second roadblock. This time it involved more than 15 television stations. Over 500,000 people in the Eugenebroadcast area got the message of Drug Wars – One Family’s Battle. At the same time, in Jackson County Drug Wars – The High Times was airing on all the television stations in Medford and teaching more than 150,000 other people about the dangers of teen drinking. (The number of viewers was calculated by Southern Oregon University Marketing Department.)

All in all, I would say that the night was a big success. Since it had never been about money with me, the loss was acceptable and besides, I knew that these films had made a difference. (I later learned the intake numbers at several of the drug treatment centers in Eugene had doubled for several weeks following the broadcast.)

After the broadcast, I was beat. I had been working nonstop for almost a year with little time off to rest and take care of myself. I took a week off and just reflected on the event.

I had done for the second time what many said I could never do. Daunting? Absolutely. Worth it? Absolutely. I had taught hundreds of thousands of people about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. I was very pleased until I started getting the bills and figuring how much it cost me to put on these broadcasts. I had miscalculated my loss and when all the dust had settled I was down by over $50,000. It was a sobering thought and one that motivated me to quit and do no more broadcasts.

The year prior to the broadcasts I had joined a group. Family Addictions Community Team was called FACT and it was a group of people from different organizations in the community. Health, law enforcement, social services, education, and drug treatment people were part of the group and we all met each month and discussed drugs and what was going on in our relative field. I represented the media. The group was very supportive, helped sponsor the broadcasts, and also assisted me in my research.

I went to the FACT meeting in February to announce that I had lost a lot of money and was going to stop doing the broadcasts. The group usually sat around tables set up in a big square. Part of the procedure was to go around the table and each person would talk about what was going on in their world. The participants on the other side of the table started the discussion and one of my friends Robin Turgeson, a county Health Department nurse, got up and described a baby that had been born at the Rogue Valley Medical Center a few days prior. The baby was born with birth defects and had part of her brain missing and was in a lot of pain because her mom had been on drugs during her pregnancy. After the baby was born the mom took off and left for Reno, NV.

As Robin was talking – and she had no idea that I was going to quit – the rage in me grew as she described the life of pain the little baby was going to live, if she lived. My rage had turned to hate toward this uncaring mother. “The dirty bitch, I thought. How could she do that?” Robin then told us that the mom was 13 years old. “Oh my,” I thought. My rage transformed into pain because now there were two babies in this story and both had to have been hurting. 

For the next few minutes, while others talked about what was going on and discussed the baby, I was thinking about the results of the broadcast I had just done. I thought about how successfully I had been in taking good messages to vast audiences. Then I thought, “How could I ignore this horrible condition? How could I not do another broadcast?”

When it was my turn to talk, I was nearly in tears. I stood up and looked at Robin and said, “Thanks a lot Robin. I came here to announce my quitting the broadcasts and now I can’t. How could I ignore this?” I spent the rest of the meeting thinking about what to do and how I was going to do it.

When I got back to my office, I called my staff into our meeting room. “We are going to make a film about drug babies,” I said. “It’s a huge problem.” I had to stop and gather up myself. “And this time we will do a roadblock for the entire state of Oregon .” I watched the group and they were dumbstruck. “So let’s get busy,” I said and walked out of the room.

I have always paid for the productions myself and then recouped my investments through the sales of the films and broadcast rights. At that time, I was a little short of cash because of the recent broadcast losses. So the next thing I did was to look for some sponsors to help me pay for the film production. I called Blue Cross and they were open to talking about it and then a couple of hospitals said they would help and the county health department also said they would kick in. There was a great deal of support offered and I was encouraged.

I released Rural Crime Prevention in the summer. For years officers had been requesting something that they could use in their rural area to teach crime prevention principles to rural residents. Initial interest was strong and we distributed many of them to rural areas. Most of the United States is in rural areas.

Drug Wars – Kickin’ Butts was finally finished and I needed to raise money to release it and begin promotion to get the sales going. We got lucky, the American Lung Association really liked it and ordered several copies and gave us a bunch of names to contact. Then the American Cancer Society picked it up and so did a lot of smoking cessation programs and hospitals and we were off to the races with it and we really needed the cash flow.

My passion was with the babies and I started to research the problem. I was amazed at the lack of information available about drug babies. I talked to one of the hospitals in Portland and they didn’t want to have anything to do with the film because they didn’t want to stigmatize drug babies. The administrator said he wouldn’t let me do any interviews because he felt it was in the best interests of the babies to just let them be. I was really short with him and told him that my intention was to prevent them from even being born as drug babies. A funny thing happened, nobody wanted to talk about it. Nobody knew the number of drug babies born each year in the US. And it didn’t seem that anyone cared. No one had done any research about it that I could find.

Then I got lucky I found a place in Kent Washington called the Pediatric Interim Care Center (PICC). Barbara Drennen was so excited that I wanted to do a film and do something about the problem of drug babies. I spent hours there looking at the babies and talking with the moms and dads. It was one of the most moving experiences of my life. Seeing a little two-week-old baby get a dose of Methadone or whatever it was and then watching them get high is something to see.

I remember interviewing one couple and the mom as she told her story with tears in her eyes, you couldn’t see me but I was there bawling. It was a powerful story and I loved the fact that they were trying to get their lives straight. I loved those kids. They would have been the same age as my son Matt would have been.

After two days at PICC, I went to visit Dr. Sterling K. Clarren, MD at the Children’s Hospital in Seattle. He spent several hours with me to describe in great detail what substance abuse does to the unborn. We also discussed ways to stop it. After all, that was supposed to be my whole focus of the film.

The next day I went to visit Dr. Ann Pytkowicz Streissguth, Ph.D. at the University of Washington in Seattle. She gave me a compelling interview and described the damage alcohol does to a fetus. It’s called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Some of her stories were very powerful.

I had some powerful and crucial information that I had to share. I knew that I only had half the story though. I still needed to illustrate the ways we can prevent this. Just showing the problem rarely solves anything. I could save that for the news. They almost always just show the problems.

Little did I know but the four days I spent in Washington would affect me for the rest of my life. The images still haunt me today.

On the drive back to Medford, I had a lot of time to think. It occurred to me that I really had enough material for two films. That is when Drug Wars – Last Call was conceived. All the information that Dr. Streissguth had given me could make a film of its own. When I got back, I immediately started to work. I had Drug Wars – Last Call finished in less than 30 days.

Cash flow was a little better and I had the previous broadcast almost paid off and we were doing well with Drug Wars – Kickin’ Butts so I was able to release Drug Wars – Last Call quickly and my staff suggested that since it was so powerful and the message was so important that we get it on the air immediately. We broadcast it on only one station in August of 2001. We found several sponsors to offset the cost.

In the meantime, I was also contacting television stations in the state of Oregon and getting them on board for the upcoming January broadcast of Drug Wars – Who Will Cry for Our Children. I was all over the place looking for sponsors to cover the $125,000 cost to get it on the air. I had nearly commitments for over $50,000 with a few months to go. I felt confident that I could get it done. I was a dynamo. I didn’t need rest. I didn’t need to rest. I was powered by my passion to save the babies.

I went on another field trip to find the answers to the problem with drug babies. How could I find something that could solve this problem? I knew that the answer lied with more than just my efforts or the efforts of a few. We all have to get involved and become part of the lives of our children and even get involved in the lives of other people’s children. I had another five days on the road as I found one person after the other who was reaching out to make a difference in the life of a young person. I found police officers, city administrators, social workers, and just average people who were making a difference. I also found the Search Institute, a source of information about Developmental Assets and how critical they are in helping us prevent substance abuse.

I was in the final part of the filmmaking process in early September and planning on making my big push. I had every television station in Oregon on board except one station and I knew that they would go along with it once they learned that the other forty stations were trying to save Oregon babies. I wouldn’t want to be them if they didn’t go along.

I remember sitting across the table from eight executives at a different station – the president and general manager, a couple of vice presidents, program director, managers, and promotions people. I looked them over and then looked to my left where no one was sitting then to the right where no one was sitting then back at the President and I said, “Eight on one.” I paused then said, “That hardly seems fair.” Then I smiled and said, “You better get some more guys.” They all laughed and that station was on board.

I was up by 5:30 every day and my normal morning was spent watching CNBC. On 9/11/2001, I watched the disaster at the WorldTrade Center unfold. Just before the first tower went down, I remember wondering how they were going to put out the fire. It didn’t take long for me to figure out what was going to happen next.

I knew that the world had just changed. I knew that the babies would have to wait.

I went to work at the usual time and started fielding all the phone calls from my friends and relatives who were asking me what was going to happen next. I didn’t know but I did know that we, the United States have been through other tragedies and we lived through them and we would make it through this one too. That is what I told them. At work, I called another staff meeting and told them that things were going to get worse because what we did was kind of supplemental to everything else our customers do and I predicted that we were in for some hard times. I put them on notice that when things slowed down that we may have to cut back on hours and they should be careful with their obligations.

I finished Drug Wars – Who Will Cry for Our Children. Almost all of the state-wide sponsors I had lined up backed out. Their reasoning: they didn’t know what was going to happen. I told them that I did. I told them that there were going to be about 100,000 drug-affected babies born this year and I could at least save a few. I was forced to cancel the state-wide broadcast.

I had collected some of the local sponsor’s contributions so I decided to continue with the local roadblock broadcast.

2002

The roadblock broadcast went off smooth but no one seemed to care. We were still in a state of shock. We were at war.

Our revenue slowed and a couple of staff members were laid off. Our crime prevention videos and programs also slowed because many of the department’s crime prevention officers were reserve army and were called up. The same thing happened in the first Gulf War.

We started reworking the Community Watch Program to include terrorism.

Prior to 9/11 I also had started working on Rural Crime Prevention a film dealing with the increasing crime rate rise. In many parts of the country, this situation had seriously been affecting the quality of life for rural residents. This film teaches rural citizens how to protect themselves and their property against theft, vandalism, and other crimes.

I produced a couple of new films to teach people about how to be safe on the Internet. Internet Safety for Parents, to teach parents how to prepare their children for the dangers of using the internet and how to talk with their children about uncomfortable subjects. Internet Safety for Kids is a program made by kids for kids. With the help of parents and a school resource officer, they learn how they can use the Internet safely and responsibly. Interest in these two films was strong but many budgets had been frozen and sales were depressed.

I produced the next installment of the Drug Wars Series. Drug Wars – It Can Happen to You. This is the story of an American family that did everything right or at least appeared to. Cheryl Sales and her husband Todd were involved parents, carefully selecting what schools their children attended. Strong Christian beliefs and regular church attendance were their bedrock. Yet by age 16, their son Josh was having trouble fitting in. In their own words, they tell the story of Josh’s growing drug addiction, his trouble with the law, and his difficult recovery. Their story is an inspiration to families and helps teach parents about setting boundaries and limits.

Our sales continued to deteriorate to the point where I questioned the wisdom of producing any additional films unless they dealt with the current times.

2003

We released the updated three books of the Community Watch Program.

David Sours and I worked on the Community Watch Administration Manual for about six months updating it and enhancing the content to reflect current programming needs.

The Block Captain’s Handbook has been selling well since we first published it and even though the content was good, we had to add programs that dealt with terrorism and emergency preparedness. (Something I wanted to include in the first edition.)

When we released the new version of the Citizen’s Guide to Community Watch we renamed it to The Citizen’s Official Guide to Crime Prevention, The second Edition was completely reworked and an entire section was added to teach people how to prevent crime. This book is a welcome addition to our product line.

It was a new time and it dictated a new line of films and something to revive our business.

In 2003 I released Condition Red. Many people believe that in the event of a disaster, emergency services will rush to their front door to aid them. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case. When a disaster strikes, services may be stretched to their limit leaving citizens to fend for themselves. Drawing on the experiences of various communities, this video helps community leaders teach citizens that instead of being totally reliant on the government and emergency services, they can take steps to empower themselves and that it is easier than they think. The film teaches that something as simple as picking up a few extra bandages or batteries for their disaster kit can go a long way in surviving the effects of an emergency. With their newly gained disaster prep knowledge, they and their families will feel confident about dealing with any emergency.

I remember when my oldest son was about 15. We had a discussion about marijuana. He was telling me that it wasn’t any different from alcohol and that it should be legal. I told him that I didn’t know why it wasn’t legal but probably was illegal for a good reason. That conversation stayed with me for years and bothered me because I couldn’t intelligently argue with him because I didn’t have the facts. That conversation was the driving factor for my next two films.

We released Drug Wars – The New Marijuana What is the truth about marijuana? Anyone who views this program will be clear about the dangers of smoking marijuana.

Eric Martin, Executive Director of the Addiction Counselor Certification Board for the State of Oregon, makes it simple by dispelling the myths about marijuana. Martin discusses the effects of marijuana on the brain, heart, lungs, and immune system. Viewers will see how using this addictive substance will affect even the simplest activities in their daily lives. By describing the new growing techniques, he also presents a convincing case that marijuana is no longer a natural substance.

In the past, I had focused on the stories of people and not just about the drugs. I felt Drug Wars – The New Marijuana did an excellent job of arguing the case about marijuana but anybody could say that was just Eric’s opinion. The real truth about any drug or any substance — prescription drugs, alcohol, crack, meth, or whatever is in the story of what it does to the user.

We released Drug Wars – Up Against the Stem and several teens in drug treatment counseling sessions tell their stories about how their marijuana use spiraled out of control. They tell stories about being kicked out of school, losing the trust of friends and family, selling possessions that were important to them, missing out on activities like sports, and getting in trouble with the law. In each of the teen’s stories, we hear how they never expected to suffer all the consequences of marijuana use when they first decided to try it. Instead, they were surprised to find how desperate they became in their need to get high. The teens’ stories are integrated with the scientific side of marijuana use. Eric Martin, a national expert on drug abuse, explains how marijuana use can cause permanent damage to the brain, heart, lungs, and immune system.

And kids kept dying. This time the new threat was E and other club drugs. I have a nephew with an addiction to Ecstasy and had some serious health issues as a result.

We released Drug Wars – Drugs of the Rave Culture. Once again I turned to Eric Martin, who is one of the nation’s leading experts on these drugs. In the film, he discusses a wide array of substances such as MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine, GHB, ketamine, and places particular emphasis on how the brain can be permanently damaged by their use. Viewers learn how club drugs cause memory loss, sexual dysfunction, learning disabilities, altered perception, and other mental and physical problems. Video footage from rave parties, and of users under the influence, drives home just how serious the consequences can be. 

2004

Somewhere along the way, I had decided to make a film about domestic violence. Back in the 80s, my wife Jan and I had rescued two women and their children from violent husbands. Both times I put myself in harm’s way to help these women. Later I met a woman who was a police officer who also had been a victim of domestic violence.

In 1995 a close friend told me about his girlfriend in college and how much he loved her. He told me that one day she told him that she wanted to break up with him. He tried to convince her that they had so much in common and they liked the same things and he felt she loved him and he couldn’t understand what could be the reason. In tears, she told him that her reason was that he didn’t really love her. He tried to convince her that he did. But she told him that he didn’t really love her because if he did he would beat her. Even though he really loved her, he knew it was wrong to beat her. He told her that she was right. He could never love anyone that much. I wondered why some people get the idea that beating them is a sign of how much we love them. Sounded like a big lie to me. Sounded like a good reason to make a film.

Back then I started working on the film but could get nowhere. I approached some men’s groups that were dealing with the issue and they weren’t interested in discussing it. I talked to a victim who worked for a hospital and she didn’t trust me and didn’t return my calls. I understand today it was because I was a man. Really! Everything seemed to be a dead-end – like it was some big secret that I couldn’t or shouldn’t talk about. Circumstances didn’t present themselves to get to the real story and the real solution. I made a commitment to myself a long time ago that if I couldn’t do a good job on a film, I wouldn’t do a film. I knew that a bad film could cause more harm than good it could do. The last thing I wanted to do was to cause anyone harm so I waited until the opportunity presented itself. Besides I had so many other subjects to make films about that I didn’t have to force the issue.

So almost 10 years later, the opportunity finally presented itself. One day I heard about a very effective domestic violence program where an entire community was effectively dealing with the problem. It took over a year to produce but the finished film was worthwhile. I met with all the participants and interviewed them. This was a perfect example of how to deal with domestic violence.

In 2004, I released Secrets, Lies, and Apologies. This film contained the stories of victims and perpetrators and they tell it all. Abusers talk about how and why they became violent. Victims talk about the abuse they suffered, why they did not end the relationship, and why they still love their batterers. A daughter explains how her father’s need for complete power and control has continued to affect her as an adult. Along with these compelling stories, this documentary details one Community’s unique approach to handling domestic violence cases. Mandatory arrests for perpetrators and court-ordered education for both perpetrators and victims are explained by a judge, a sheriff, a court advocate, a probation officer, and a counselor. This film makes it clear that all of us are affected by domestic violence. It is not just a victim’s problem. The underlying message is that no one deserves emotional or physical abuse and the solutions must come from education.

I received an email from a man in Kenya named Amata Thomas. He was looking for some help educating the children of Kenya. His job was to go around and teach high school students about the dangers of drugs. He had heard about me from a nurse in Hawaii and she had spoken very highly of me. She told him that she had met me when I was teaching a Community Watch class in Alaska or someplace like that as he put it.

He was very discouraged because it seemed like such a daunting task. I told him about the starfish story about the man on the beach throwing starfish back into the ocean one at a time. I also told him about the bridge builder about the man who built a bridge for those who followed. He wrote me back and thanked me in a way that only Amata could thank me. I thought his use of English was charming and when he told me “It blew up my mind that you would write such a fable and help me.” It warmed my heart to help this man so far away who was working so hard to protect the children. He asked me if I would donate some videos on drug prevention to his organization to help him, I sent them off in a hurry. He received them and made it his mission to show the films to the high school children of Kenya. It seemed that they would all celebrate their graduation from high school by going out and using drugs and drinking. They didn’t know that they could celebrate without drinking or using drugs. He told me that the death rate was high with young people there because they literally didn’t know any better way to celebrate and that AIDS was also a huge killer. I was thrilled to help him in his cause. Later, he told me that the kids really got the message and that he felt we had made a big difference. That was the award I was looking for.

2005

I received a call from the International Film and Video Festival. The Documentary Secrets Lies and Apologies had been nominated for an award for Creative Excellence. So I went to Hollywood to accept the award. I was surprised that there was a big banquet and I was told to dress formally. I went wearing my double-breasted-winter-white suit. I looked pretty cool. I was underdressed. Everyone there was in a tux and I stuck out like a sore thumb. We sat at a table with some guys from Germany and Australia and they acted like I was John Wayne or something because they were all impressed that I was nominated for the award. They were even more impressed when I won the category.

When I went up to accept the award I said, “I would like to accept this award and acknowledge the millions of women and children who participated in the making of this film.” Sarcasm at its finest and nobody got it. All I got was blank stares. Oh well, I wasn’t in it for the awards anyway. I almost didn’t go but I had some friends in LA that I wanted to see.

The awards kept coming. We got a Videographer Award for Learn to Stop Shoplifting, a Videographer Award of Distinction for Condition Red, A Communicator Award of Distinction for Secrets, Lies, and Apologies, Aegis Award of Excellence in Video and Film Production for condition Red, egis Award of Excellence in Video and Film Production for Drug Wars – Up Against the Stem and Drug Wars – The New Marijuana. Probably more but I didn’t keep track.

The business was in decline and so I released the remake of the Stop Business Crime Series. These films had done very well for me and I felt the information and subject matter would be good for today’s viewers.

Learn to Stop Shoplifting teaches that shoplifting is money out of the pocket of a business owner and more succinctly money out of the pocket of the consumer because we all pay for shoplifting as other crimes against business. We pay because a business unable to control shoplifting has to raise its prices to make up for losses. This can also be catastrophic for some businesses because many of them go out of business because of the losses.

Learn to Stop Employee Theft teaches that employee theft is so serious that 30% of business failures this year will be caused by the theft of their own workers. Experienced retailers know that they have more to fear from their own employees than from shoplifters. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t learn that lesson until it’s too late. Some experts say that in an average retail business, 20 – 40% of employees will always steal if given the opportunity. Another 40% of employees will consider stealing if the opportunity and temptation are too great. It’s the business owner’s job to remove the opportunity and this film shows them how.

How to Survive and Armed Robbery teaches that it’s an event no one wants to experience. In one second you go from your normal routine to finding yourself in the midst of a life and death scenario. What you do and how you act in the next 60 seconds can determine whether this is a robbery or a murder. As I knew this film has saved lives and would be a valuable asset to any business.

Loss Prevention Threats and Strategies is another book I published in 2005. To increase the appeal of our selection of business products, I hired Sarah Kaip, a writer and researcher, to help me put together a book for businesses. A survey conducted by Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations Inc. revealed the top 20 security threats to American corporations. We compiled strategies to combat these 20 threats and put them into this comprehensive loss prevention manual. Loss Prevention Threats and Strategies covers, in detail, how to deal with almost any type of business-related crime. More importantly, it gives the reader strategies to reduce or stop these losses.

Back in the mid-80s, I had the idea that I would like to write a book on sales techniques. Since I have always been an all-star salesperson (I can say that with some humility because it is true). I didn’t have time but I certainly could have Sarah help me. So I commissioned her to start organizing some of the notes that I have gathered over the years since I was one of Prudential’s top agents. I had volumes of information on how to be a great salesperson. She helped organize the material and I selected the content of the book. My goal was to produce a book that would give anyone interested in sales a platform for success.

In 2005 I published You Gotta’ Wanna’. Here is the pitch: It’s about sales. It’s about life. It’s about how to be successful at both. The basics of sales never change. The timeless principles in this book will help the reader get what they want. The style, philosophy, and techniques presented are the same as successful people have used since the beginning of time. For both rookies and pros, this book reveals what it takes to join the top performers. No matter what the job, success will be in direct proportion to how many of the presented principles can be adopted. You Gotta’ Wanna’ gives you 62 strategies for making a lot of money. There is a reason that 20 percent of the salespeople make 80 percent of the profits. It teaches how to conquer fear by winning confidence, how to establish rapport with customers to build trust, how to get the client to say “yes” immediately, how to get your customers to go from skeptical to enthusiastic, how to gain the power of a winning sales attitude and how to manage your life to help you reach your greatest potential. My philosophy is selling isn’t about slick-talking your customers – long-term sales success is about developing relationships. Start by establishing rapport, identifying needs, presenting products and services, overcoming objections, and closing the sale. We did a good job with You Gotta’ Wanna’ because it effectively illustrates that in order to achieve the long-term success you have to genuinely believe in what you do. You Gotta’ Wanna’ teaches people how to get what they want by giving their customers what the customers want.

You Gotta’ Wanna’ got really great reviews.

In 1991 I read a story of a World War II battle that occurred near the Philippine Islands in the South Pacific between the large contingent of the Japanese Navy and a small contingent of the US Navy. It was an inspiring story of courage and heroism and how a group of men faced certain death. A lot like the Alamo except it was farther south. That story had stuck with me for a long time and I wanted to do a film about it. The only problem was it would take a couple hundred million to produce it. Quite a cry from my $40,000 or $50,000 films.

I had lunch with Paddy and we discussed it. He had written dozens of screenplays and had produced a bunch of movies. He had also written a bunch of stuff for me. His hand was on many of the films that I had done. I found out that he was the skipper of a small ship in WWII in the South Pacific. He encouraged me to write a script. So I did. At least I wrote a draft of the story and he read it. He was pretty critical and we discussed why. He also had taught screenwriting and coached me on the process.

One day we were discussing the script over lunch. We enjoyed eating at a Japanese restaurant named Bonsai Teriyaki. As I was describing the action in the play and the dialog between the characters, I began to fall into character and started talking about the Japs doing this or that and how the crew felt about the Japs and Japs this and Japs that. After a couple of minutes, I looked around and saw that I had attracted some attention. It wasn’t positive attention but the waitress came up to me and said the owners of the restaurant were all Korean and they hated the Japs during the war too. It was pretty funny, but I guess you had to be there.

I worked on the screenplay for a couple of years on and off and Paddy and I had many lunches where we discussed it.

2006

Our other books were selling pretty well so I decided to commission Sarah to write another book. This time it was in a different direction to help women in the workplace. She did the research and put some personal experiences she had suffered through and we released Woman’s Workplace Survival Guide.

The Woman’s Workplace Survival Guide is a passionately written guide on problems that affect women in the workplace. Coworkers and bosses present unique challenges, but many women are their own worst enemies – sabotaging their careers and failing to go after what they want. This book encourages women to stop waiting for that big break and start playing offense in their careers. Women, more than men, face issues like gossip, envy, criticism, passive-aggressive coworkers, burnout, and struggles with a work/life balance. Women will also learn about the old boy network, sexual harassment, unequal pay, communication, self-esteem, and self-respect. Not all offices or workplaces are the same, but many of the policies and challenges women face are the same, no matter where they work.

The reviews for this book were very positive and interest was high.

Even with all the work, I had done in the drug education arena, there was still so much left to be done. I heard about a local family who had lost a child to an overdose of oxycodone, a commonly prescribed and legal drug. This illustrated, once again that it isn’t just about illegal drugs. That’s when I started my next film.

I hired a good friend S.S. Schweitzer, Paddy to write a script for me on the subject of prescription drug abuse. It was a broad subject with plenty of room for several films.

We started production. Once again I wasn’t satisfied that we were on the right track and I halted production. Paddy was disappointed but I told him that it wasn’t consistent with my vision. I didn’t feel that the message or the target audience was right.

After a couple of months of reworking the idea and script, we started again. We threw out the script and went back to the real story theme that had worked so well for my other films. It took about six months to produce but I knew that we had another big hit on our hands.

In 2006 we released Drug Wars – Rx to Diefor is about prescription drug abuse and what a serious problem it is with our high school children not to mention the millions of people who are addicted to them. Prescription drugs can be just as deadly as illegal drugs, and often, easier to get. Unfortunately, because these drugs are prescribed by a doctor, many people don’t realize just how deadly they can be. In Drug Wars – Rx To Die For, addiction treatment experts teach us how these drugs can destroy your body and brain, and victims who have experienced the devastating effects firsthand tell their stories. This film does a great job of telling people about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

Years ago I had the vision of teens being persuaded to smoke because they thought it was cool. I made some notes about a film where we could sit in the board room of a big tobacco company and listen to the conversation. In 2005 I talked to Paddy about it and we decided to do a film that portrayed the event. I told him that I couldn’t understand the thinking of anyone who would deliberately produce a product that would kill so many people. What must that be like? That was the theme for my next film. In the one scene I had in my head the villain says “If you make kids think it is cool to have a nail sticking out of the side of their head, you would have millions of kids running around driving spikes into the sides of their heads.”

This film was totally acted and professionally directed. I brought a director in from Hollywood who had directed several well-known films and he did an excellent job. The acting was superb and everyone loved it. I had some edgy music from a well-known group in LA do the music and it has all the makings of a great hit.

My older brother Richard passed away in 2006. My relationship with him was estranged. We never reconciled a family incident. I felt bad that he died without any connection with his family. I looked back at when we were young and the abuse he had taken from my father was terrible. I had learned so much about it and I only wish that I would have reached out to him before he died.

Not long after we finished shooting Target Teen, Paddy passed away. He was a really good friend. He was like the father I didn’t know. He was good enough of a friend to tell me when my work stunk.

Not long after that, I had another really good friend, Don Thomson pass away. We used to have dinner with Don and his wife Anita every Friday night. I watched his kids grow up and he watched mine grow up. I was there when he found his father. He was always present at all of my events and was one of my biggest supporters.

It was a bad year for friends. Between Don and Paddy, I had lost my two best friends. After that, when I met people for the first time, I told them if they wanted to be my friend they would have to take a physical. I wasn’t emotionally stable enough to go through that again.

I could have not known how much my emotional stability was going to be tested in the coming years.

2007

After a delay in production and editing, Target Teen was released. I found it interesting that it was released at the same time as Thank You for Smoking. Target Teen was the serious side of the popular spoof. I found it very remarkable that the two films were released at the same time. I had no idea that they were making it and I am sure they didn’t know we were making Target Teen.

Target Teen reviews have been good and sales but disappointing. I know the main reason is that we did a poor job of marketing it.

In 2007 the business started to decline. Other business interests that I had were starting to unwind and I knew that it was just a matter of time before we would not be able to continue the business as it was.

My son James told me that he had been enjoying going to the mixed martial arts exhibits. “Cage fights? No. I don’t think so.” I told him. He told me that it wasn’t what I thought. “I don’t even like boxing.” I retorted.

For the next couple of months, he pressed the issue and I stood my ground. One day he told me to come over and meet a couple of people and he introduced me to Trevor and Jake. It turns out that Trevor was Trevor Harris a cage fighter. I gave one of those “you will pay,” looks at my son but was polite to the guys. Trevor talked about all the hard work and discipline that went into his fight training. Jake told me that Trevor was going to be a contender and that he had what it took to go all the way. The funny about Trevor was he constantly giggled and was totally charming. “Hmmm,” I thought.

“OK.” I said, “I’ll come down to the gym. Do some interviews, watch the training. You know. Check things out.”

After a few hours at the gym a few nights later, I was interested in learning more about the world of cage fighting. I could see that this was more, a lot more than a legal brawl. I had no idea how much time and energy went into the training and how hard the fighters worked. After attending a bunch of fights and filming dozens of interviews with the fighters I had a hundred hours of film and some really great stuff.

I released The Cage Fighter in the fall of 2007. Every review has been positive even if the reviewer is opposed to fighting.

2008

The business was a disaster and we were forced to close the doors for our production company, Advantage Source, Inc., and our marketing arm Crime Prevention Resources.

I had gone broke. I guess the charmed life that I had been living was at an end.

One thing I knew, is that at my age, and since I wasn’t a spring chicken anymore, and since I had nowhere to go I better get a job of some kind. Not much demand for old guys who know how to produce films and books to save people so I decided to fall back on a previous career that I had done well in real estate. I knew that I could make good money and I would still be helping people get what they want. So in 2008 I got back my real estate broker’s license and have been doing well ever since.

I spent most of 2008 getting up to speed in real estate. It was good for me because I knew so many people and most of them think highly of me. I started getting calls from friends wishing me well and telling people they knew about me being a real estate agent. So business was good.

I was sitting in my car one day waiting for my wife and mother-in-law to meet for lunch. I was listening to a CD that was telling me to do the thing that I love. I asked myself what it was that I really love and I couldn’t think of anything. I liked real estate but I didn’t really love it. I had to really clear my head and open up to my subconscious mind about what I really loved. The answer came and it surprised me a little. The message was clear and it was to finish the screenplay that I had started a few years ago about the naval battle.

I spent the next six months working on the screenplay. I worked at night and on weekends. It felt good to be doing it. It was like I was really there. I was afraid when I should have been and I was angry at the right times. I really got into it and had to do several rewrites to get it to where I really liked it. It is ready for its final rewrite this winter. Maybe in 2011 or so, it will be ready for me to take it somewhere to sell or produce.

2009

In a tough real estate market, I did well but there was something wrong. It took me a year to realize that real estate isn’t my calling even though I am a good broker and can function very well in the arena and love to work with people. I was unhappy but didn’t know why.

One day I got a call from Rowland Glass. He explained that he knew of my work and wondered if I would be interested in producing a film. I told him that I would talk to him about it but hadn’t made any for a couple of years and didn’t plan to. I did want to talk to him.

After a couple of meetings with him, I realized that he had the makings of some really important work that someone needed to do something with.

One day I had a particularly bad real estate day. I had worked so hard to get a condo sold and I got my commission check. You would have thought I would have been happy with it. I had done a dozen sales in a time when many agents had done one or no sales. Not me, I threw the check on the desk in disgust. I got up and walked out of my office and drove down to Sherri’s restaurant and had lunch. I pulled out the notes that I had made about the new film I was thinking about.

As I stared at them I thought about what I had gone through. What ran through my mind was a few years ago I had been a multi-millionaire and now I was broke. I was thinking that here I am looking at doing a film and I didn’t have the funding to do it. That had never stopped me before. I thought this film could be the most important film ever. Then it occurred to me.

I would have never done this film had I not gone broke. I was too wrapped up in money and keeping it flowing than the content of my films that I can only give them. God has His ways.

I know that this film could really be a great film for so many people and not just the people who struggle with substance abuse. I looked up the number of addictions there are to various things and I came up with hundreds. What Rolly presented me with, was a way to get to the bottom of the addiction and help people find some relief.

I know you want to know more about the film and its content but I can’t tell you. If I do I will have to kill you. (Remember Top Gun?) I am still in a creative state. If you read the way I work, you will remember that sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what and how to say it. I can say that the film is about learning to love you and have a good relationship with yourself. You see all the stories I told about drugs focused on people who didn’t love themselves. 

2010

I spent most of the year reorganizing my life and taking care of my legal issues associated with going broke.

I was saddened to learn of the death of my old friend, Bill Farber. I remembered the training classes Bill and I taught back in 1996 and how much fun we had with our police officer buddies and students. We had some great fun.

2011

I’m now fully engaged in my film business and feel energized once again. I know the road back will not be easy as was the road going the other way. The only thing I know is I can smile more when I am on the same road as my friends.

2012

Well, here I am on the trail of a new series of inspiring films about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. One guy shouldn’t be this lucky to have such an important call to protect God’s babies.

2013

I’ve always wanted to do a movie about Bigfoot. Ever since I heard an old guy named Wally to tell me about his encounter with a Bigfoot. So I produced a film called Bigfoot Chronicles. It’s the story of a filmmaker who goes into the mountains to find Bigfoot. 

During the production, I was diagnosed with eye cancer (yeah, it is really rare — so what else did you expect). So halfway through directing the movie I had to have surgery on my eye and had to get my friend Calvin Kennedy to come in and help me finish it. 

I was able to get another couple of television shows on the air about the dangers of prescription drugs. 

2014

I heard about a young man who smoked synthetic marijuana and ended up in a mental hospital for trying to kill his friend. I never heard of it but the story was compelling enough to make me look into it. What I found scared the daylights out of me and so I produced a film called K2 – Spice, A Nightmare Without End. I was able to get it on television in Oregon in the fall of that year. 

I packaged all of the drug prevention videos into the Drug-Free Kids Video Library, and I’m offering it for only $299 for the whole set. It is helping get the message out there. Should have done this years ago. I guess with the upsurge in heroin addiction, we need to do something about that. 

The sales of the business crime prevention videos have remained fairly consistent. 

Crime Prevention Resources in 2015

The National Association of Town Watch put in another order for both Block Captain’s Handbooks and Community Watch Manuals. I think this was our 20th anniversary of helping keep American towns safer. 

I found a distributor for Bigfoot Chronicles and it was released on July 7, 2015. That felt like a big day. 

2016

In March, I learned the distributor for Bigfoot Chronicles was sentenced to a year in federal prison for defrauding the state of Louisiana out of tax credits. 

2017

I am glad to still be offering my services and products to help keep people safe.  

The only way for our communities to be safe again is for the police and the citizens to work together. 

2018

Keeping the websites updated and putting videos on YouTube takes time. 

I’m happy to report that you can watch most of the videos we produced. If you want to buy a license to play them in meetings, you need to buy it. 

2019

In the fall, South Dakota released an ad campaign called Meth, we’re on it. It reminded me of the “This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs” ad campaign of the early ’80s. They spent over $1,000,000 on the campaign. 

I tried to contact the governor about it several times in several ways but only heard back from a high-level bureaucrat who was happy with the death and destruction caused by drugs in her state. I also contacted the President of the South Dakota Sheriff’s Association, but he was too busy to get back to me. 

I renewed my offer to purchase the entire Drug Free Kids Video Library for $299.

2020

I became the Director of Region One of the California Crime Prevention association. 

This was a bad time for law enforcement as many cities in America were calling for the banning of police agencies. 

It was absolutely astounding how things in 1992 had reappeared 2020. I decided to update a book I wrote in 1992, Held Hostage in America, and publish it as Enough. 

2021

I revised and released the Community Watch Administration, 4th Edition.

2022 

I’m still offering many of the products I have developed over the years. I’m still active and working to make a difference. 

This year, the plan is to release the newest editions of the Block Captain’s Handbook and the Citizen’s Guide.

Crime Prevention Resources’ Future

The plan is to keep on keeping on.

Thanks for taking the time to read our history.

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