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Plagued by fighting and other disturbances, RCSD reconsiders police presence

Justin Murphy

October 19, 2021 |

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Rochester, New York

During the 2020 social justice protests, Rochester city school leaders quickly acted to remove police officers from the schools. A long-time goal of school-discipline reformers, ending the use of school resource officers was meant to create openings for responses to student violence other than arrest or suspension. Eighteen months later, the school superintendent sought to increase a police presence in schools in light of a rise in fights among students. Reform advocates accused the district of failing to follow through with effective alternatives to the punitive responses to discipline problems.

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Prison reform curbs some solitary confinement, but how much?

Rachel Riley

October 10, 2021 |

The Everett Daily Herald (HeraldNet) |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington

Washington state prison officials say they have tried for years to reduce their use of solitary confinement. They made some progress toward that goal until the pandemic. Despite that complication, hundreds still live for months or even years in near-total isolation, which critics liken to torture and blame for psychological damage to incarcerated people. Advocates for strict limits or abolishing the practice say the state has maintained the use of solitary under a variety of euphemisms. Pending legislation would impose stricter limits, which prison officials oppose on safety grounds.

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When Abusers Keep Their Guns

Jennifer Gollan

October 09, 2021 |

Reveal |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Starting in 1968, Congress has passed a series of laws, as have some states, stripping gun possession rights from people convicted of felonies or of domestic violence, or who are the subjects of restraining orders. But neither federal nor most state authorities do much to enforce the laws, relying instead on an honor system that often fails. Some places, like Washington's King County (Seattle), have done more to track who has guns they are barred from having. Thorough follow-up enables them to confiscate such guns in a process that can be less potentially violent than assumed.

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Red Flag Laws Are Saving Lives. They Could Save More.

Matt Vasilogambros

October 05, 2021 |

Stateline |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted red-flag laws, most of them since the 2018 Parkland, Fla., school shooting. The laws, also called extreme risk protection order laws, allow law enforcement officials or family members to petition courts to confiscate guns from people deemed a danger to themselves or others. Use of the laws has grown and advocates say they have saved lives. But the growth has been slow, largely because of widespread ignorance of the laws among the public and even police. Some states have begun to fund education and training campaigns to rectify that.

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Austin wants to be a model of modern policing, but the future remains unclear

Tony Plohetski

October 04, 2021 |

KVUE-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Austin, Texas

After years of inaction on police reform measures, Austin city leaders raced to restructure and cut resources from the city's police department after the 2020 nationwide social justice protests followed close on the heels of another in a series of controversial police shootings in Austin. By freezing hiring of new officers and shifting $140 million to other agencies, the city was among the biggest cities making the earliest, boldest moves to reform policing. A year later, a severe shortage of patrol officers and rising violence has sparked a new round of debate about where the city goes from here.

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Atlanta Tried Housing Police in Disinvested Black Communities to Increase Trust. Is it Working?

Adina Solomon

September 29, 2021 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Atlanta, Georgia

The Secure Neighborhoods program lets select police officers buy houses at subsidized prices if they move into a mostly Black, historically disinvested neighborhood. The aim of the program is to make police officers part of a community, build community trust, and discourage crime. While violence and auto theft in the chosen neighborhood have dropped, and some community members say the program improved relations, others complain that the gesture has been fairly superficial and just adds to gentrification pressures.

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Parson acknowledges new gun law needs to be revisited after police say it ties their hands

Lauren Trager

September 28, 2021 |

KMOV-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Missouri

A new Missouri law, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, restricts the ability of local law enforcement officials to collaborate with federal officials in enforcing gun laws and investigating gun crimes. The law, which legislators meant as a statement of gun-rights principles, would fine police officers who violate it. Many local law enforcement officers withdrew from federal-local gun crime task forces and have otherwise stopped working with their federal counterparts. One department stopped submitting data to the federal ballistics database. Police say the law interferes with legitimate police work.

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How decades of stopping forest fires made them worse

Kimberly Mas

September 22, 2021 |

Vox |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Prescribed burning or controlled burning is an ancestral indigenous practice in which specific sections of a forest are burned. Controlled burning also happens naturally like when lightning strikes a forest. Controlled burning is good for a forest, it gets rid of dead areas, leads to healthier soil by clearing the ground, and minimizes the strength of large fires. However, due to U.S. laws that criminalized controlled burns the practice was discouraged in the U.S. Now, due to climate change and larger fires, prescribed burning is making a come back.

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Maybe Cops Shouldn't Handle Domestic Violence Calls

Melissa Jeltsen

September 22, 2021 |

The Cut |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Moab, Utah

The case of Gabby Petito illustrates how decades-old laws meant to make police take domestic violence more seriously can backfire on the people who most need protection. Mandatory-arrest laws require police responding to a domestic-violence complaint to determine who is the primary aggressor, as a prelude to an arrest. In Petito's case, as in many, Moab, Utah, police deemed her the aggressor based on a cursory investigation, and possibly based on ingrained biases against women. This does nothing to get at the root of the problem and get people the help they need.

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He Beat Her Repeatedly. Family Court Tried to Give Him Joint Custody of Their Children.

Megan O'Matz

September 16, 2021 |

ProPublica |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a leader in the movement to treat fathers as equal caregivers and to prioritize shared custody in divorces. But this fathers' rights reform, combined with outmoded ideas about women who allege domestic violence, often forces domestic violence victims to maintain frequent communication with their abusers and to turn over their children to violent former spouses for visits. Although the shared-custody law does exempt cases of serious domestic violence, advocates say the law allows large exceptions, makes proving allegations too hard, and is overseen by courts dismissive of women's allegations.

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