Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • This city disbanded its police department 7 years ago. Here's what happened next

    Camden, New Jersey, is far smaller and more racially diverse than Minneapolis, but its decision to dissolve and reconstitute its police department may be the most apt case study if the larger city follows through on plans to reboot its policing. Camden decided in 2012 its department was beyond fixing, and its crime too severe to accept the status quo. A new countywide force has embraced community-oriented policing, de-escalation tactics, and limits on the use of force. Violence has dropped by nearly half and public support is up, although Camden's continuing problems also serve as a warning for Minneapolis.

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  • Navajo community health reps play key role in contact tracing

    The Community Health Representative Program has been helping connect the Navajo Nation with health-care resources for decades, but when the Covid-19 pandemic began to impact community members, the role of the representatives shifted. By "using their knowledge of the community in a different way," the representatives have largely become contact tracers, a role they are uniquely suited for given their understanding of the importance of cultural competency and their longevity in the community.

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  • The City That Remade Its Police Department

    Since Camden began addressing its high homicide rate in 2012 with closer collaboration with the community and stricter rules on the use of force, both murders and complaints about police have fallen dramatically. As part of what is considered some of the most extensive police reforms in the country, the city put more police on the streets. That had both good outcomes (interactions outside of crises) and bad (a troubling increase in low-level arrests). But, when many cities’ police-brutality protests in 2020 turned violent, Camden’s did not.

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  • Why So Many Police Are Handling the Protests Wrong

    Half a century of research showing the dynamics of how protesters and police interact under pressure teaches that when police respond with escalating force, it doesn’t work. But police continue to lean on such tactics out of instinct and culture, even in the face of strong evidence that they often instigate the very riots they ostensibly seek to prevent. Defusing tension is no simple matter, and officer safety concerns are often legitimate. But much can be learned from common mistakes and from some model strategies that have been deployed successfully.

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  • Thousands of Complaints Do Little to Change Police Ways

    Derek Chauvin's journey through the Minneapolis Police Department’s officer-disciplinary system illustrates the weaknesses of that system and the failure of efforts to fix it. Chauvin, the officer charged in the death of George Floyd, survived at least 17 misconduct complaints before he was fired for killing Floyd by kneeling on his neck. Critics charge the department never complied with recommendations by federal analysts to improve the tracking and disciplining of problem officers. That and other administrative failures are coupled with political and cultural barriers to neuter many reform ideas.

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  • Before George Floyd's Death, Minneapolis Police Failed to Adopt Reforms, Remove Bad Officers

    The Minneapolis Police Department’s repeated failures to reform a broken police-discipline system underscore the lack of public trust that exploded in local and nationwide protests after an officer with a troubled record killed a handcuffed suspect. An analysis of police-reform efforts in the city, and statewide, show how vows to do better have been undermined by official reluctance to remove bad officers from duty, either through administrative or legislative failure. Among the unaddressed problems: a "coaching" system that allows officers to avoid suspension but is riddled with problems.

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  • Volunteers Bring Coronavirus Testing To Dallas' Southern Sector: 'It's Our Civic And Moral Responsibility'

    To increase COVID-19 testing in one Dallas neighborhood, community leaders, healthcare professionals, and a local church have joined together to implement a testing site directly in the community. Offering 250 free tests per day, the makeshift clinic helps to address the need of community members who may not feel comfortable going to a medical institution that they do not trust.

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  • Why San Francisco's Librarians Make Great Contact Tracers Audio icon

    Librarians’ skills have proved critical to San Francisco’s pandemic response, in roles ranging from translating to communicating public-health announcements, but especially contact tracing. The city’s largest-ever activation of disaster service workers meant sending librarians to the front lines. The dozens chosen for contact tracing work use a combination of research and people skills, striving to build trust with people reached by phone. Says one librarian, “You have to be agile and willing to lean in. It aligns well with my skills as a librarian."

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  • How Denmark Got Its Children Back to School So Soon After Lockdown

    Starting in mid-April, Denmark welcomed its students back to school with new hand washing stations, extra sinks, spaced out desks, and some classes outside. After initial hesitance from some parents, the thorough approach and lack of resulting COVID-19 cases have won over the majority of families.

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  • Some Countries Have Brought New Cases Down To Nearly Zero. How Did They Do It?

    Taking swift action, quickly banning all incoming visitors, remaining apolitical, articulating a coherent and straightforward plan to follow, and connecting with citizens by being approachable and appealing to their sense of duty to protect their fellow country-people are the strategies taken by those countries that have better prevented or most quickly contained the spread of Covid-19. Some countries still see frustration among the public, but for the most part these are the components that have led to a positive response from everyday citizens.

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