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Program turns Tucson police into 'street-corner problem solvers'

Caitlin Schmidt Jamie Donnelly

May 01, 2022 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Tucson’s Place Network Investigations program puts dedicated teams in areas where crime is more likely to occur, using community engagement to learn more about residents’ needs and their concerns around local crime. Tucson's program has also partnered with community organizations to offer services as part of public outreach, such as vaccination clinics and food distribution, but some have criticized the initiative as over-policing of marginalized communities.

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Vermont State Police try sending mental health workers out with troopers. Is it working?

Elizabeth Murray

March 14, 2022 |

Burlington Free Press |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Vermont

The Vermont Department of Public Safety hired embedded mental health crisis workers to respond to mental health-related calls alongside state troopers, with the goal of de-escalating tensions that can lead to unnecessary arrests and use of force. While data is still being collected, service providers say the program has helped connect their clients to needed treatment and support.

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Zero Tolerance to FGM in Okpala Umukwune

Chidera Rosecamille Aneke

February 06, 2022 |

Stories That Matter NG |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Nigeria, Okpala Umukwune

A community in Nigeria educated residents about the dangers of female genital mutation and implemented a fine to stop the practice.

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Creating a safer 6th Street: How another U.S. city transformed its entertainment district

Kevin Clark

November 11, 2021 |

KXAN-TV |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Arlington, Virginia

Arlington police and its entertainment-district bars and restaurants addressed rising violence and other crime by collaborating to prevent crime rather than banking on police alone to solve it through more arrests. Where bar and restaurant owners in the past feared getting in trouble if they told police about incidents at their venues, the Arlington Restaurant Initiative opened communication and training of employees. Crime in the district declined by two-thirds in the first four years. Austin faces similar challenges and could learn from Arlington's example.

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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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Cincinnati Was a Model for Police Reform. What Happened?

Fola Akinnibi

September 02, 2021 |

Bloomberg Businessweek |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cincinnati, Ohio

A 2002 agreement with the U.S. Justice Department made Cincinnati a model of police reform. After a series of controversial shootings of residents, police committed to a less harsh, more publicly accountable approach that, for a time, seemed to work. Arrests and crime both fell. Public support for the police grew. But now the city is a model for something else: how progress can be undercut if a city grows complacent and fails to perform the hard work of sustaining a different sort of policing.

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Organizers say Nashua conversation events help community, police find common ground

Meg McIntyre

July 23, 2021 |

Granite State News Collaborative |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Nashua, New Hampshire

A community-led program, Nashua Community Conversations on Race and Justice, has held numerous forums on policing and racial justice for more than five years. Racial justice activists say the effort, featuring breakout groups where residents or students talk to police officers and both sides share their perspectives, have significantly improved police-community relations. But the city's overwhelmingly white police force continues to arrest people of color at disproportionately high rates, showing that "perceptions have changed more than arrest statistics."

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Police Reform: Walking a beat

John Glidden

June 30, 2021 |

Local News Matters |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Richmond, California

When the Richmond Police Department began putting police officers on foot patrol, walking neighborhood beats, relations with the public improved. That and other changes were associated with higher public trust and lower violence. But budget cuts have undermined the program. Now, nearby Vallejo is considering its options to address poor community relations and high gun violence. It is unclear whether Vallejo has passed the point of no return in its troubled police-community relations.

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How Jos Neighbourhood Watch Makes Christians, Muslims Their Brother's Keeper

Nathaniel Bivan

May 10, 2021 |

HumAngle |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Jos, Plateau State

Following years of religious-based violence throughout Plateau State, Christians and Muslims in the Dutse Uku area of Jos formed a neighborhood watch program to intervene before one killing turns into many. Elders on both sides of the divided community agreed to take responsibility for violence in their area and to help the other side seek justice. Places of worship are guarded by members of the opposite faith, in a show of solidarity that has not completely erased fears and suspicions, but has bred a calmer atmosphere. People now mingle freely at the marketplace and business has improved.

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Would better policing reduce gun violence in Philly like it has in Camden?

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

May 10, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Camden, New Jersey

For a city like Philadelphia, with rising violence and a lack of community trust in the police, Camden and Newark serve as examples of the positive changes that come about when outside forces impose the kinds of reforms that the community seeks. After significant makeovers, both cities' police departments have earned greater trust by being more effective and less brutal. Crime is down and police use less force, including not a single police shooting in Newark in 2020. The lesson in both cities: community involvement in crime reduction is key, but better policing also must be a part of the response.

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