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These tenants are organizing to restore safety in their Nanaimo complex

Lauren Kaljur

May 07, 2021 |

The Discourse |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Residents at a subsidized nonprofit family housing complex organized to address safety and drug-use issues that began with the pandemic. Residents use a Facebook chat to communicate and will often warn each other of suspicious activity. They also record every incident in writing, pictures, and video, -- which are shared with the landlord, building manager, the police, and the media – and they maintain a visible presence to ensure visitors know they are seen. As a result, the nonprofit has provided more onsite security and better lighting and two of the four most disruptive tenants at have been evicted.

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American cities have long struggled to reform their police – but isolated success stories suggest community and officer buy-in might be key

Thaddeus L. Johnson Natasha N. Johnson

April 30, 2021 |

The Conversation |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cincinnati, Ohio

One police-reform program that outperformed and outlasted most cities' attempts was Cincinnati's "collaborative agreement," an unusual team effort focused on community involvement at every step. Sparked by a controversial police shooting of an unarmed Black man, the program went beyond federal government and court oversight to include other key stakeholders in the community and police unions. Changed policies on use of force, crime prevention, and police accountability led to lower crime, improved police-community relations, fewer injuries, and fewer racially biased traffic stops.

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What Dallas can learn from Oakland's experience in lowering violent crime

Krista M. Torralva

April 25, 2021 |

Dallas Morning News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

The "striking resemblance" between the gun violence problems of Oakland in 2012 and Dallas in 2020 argue in favor of Dallas' adoption of Oakland's Operation Ceasefire approach to violence reduction. By using a "focused deterrence" strategy of targeting people most at risk of committing or suffering violence, and offering services to change their lives' trajectory, Oakland saw six consecutive years of violence reductions, cutting gun violence rates in half. The program was disrupted by the pandemic, but its reliance on community resources and not just law enforcement is seen as a lasting effect.

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In a Pennsylvania town, a Facebook group fills the local news void

Brandy Zadrozny

April 05, 2021 |

NBC News |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chippewa Township, Pennsylvania

In areas with no newspapers, locals are increasingly turning to Facebook groups to share resources and information about local happenings, particularly crime. Many of The News Alerts of Beaver County's 43,000 members praise the benefits of the group, in which members can post and comment on local news, including everything from infrastructure and businesses to lost dogs and suspected criminals on the loose. However, critics claim it is a hub for misinformation and vigilantism. The group is moderated, but the misinformation, which is shared in good faith by neighbors, is hard to spot without training.

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Inside the L.A.P.D.'s Experiment in Trust-Based Policing

Michaela Haas

February 05, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

The Community Safety Partnership Bureau of the Los Angeles Police Department has worked for a decade in 10 neighborhoods to prevent crime through building trust among residents, rather than through the LAPD's costly and troubled war on gangs. One study found that through long-term involvement in neighborhood life, with highly trained officers working closely with community organizers, CSP had helped increase public trust, save public money, and lower violent crime.

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Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

Tom Moran

January 10, 2021 |

NJ Advance Media |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

In 2020, six years after the Justice Department imposed a series of reforms on the Newark Police Department, Newark police officers have reduced their use of force so much that they didn't fire their guns at all in 2020, nor did the city pay any brutality-lawsuit settlements. Reforms in training, including de-escalation tactics, all backed by supportive leadership and extensive community outreach, turned a "rogue department" of brutality and racism into a more trusted, effective force.

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Under Biden, the Justice Department is expected to again police the police

Robert Klemko

December 29, 2020 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, East Haven, Connecticut

After East Haven, Connecticut, police officers were caught harassing residents based on race, the Obama Justice Department took the police department to court and won a consent decree requiring a long list of reforms, in hiring, training, discipline, and use of force. The oversight, rare for a small city, changed the department's culture and won praise from many residents, who now trust the police more. Such federal action waned in the Trump years, but is expected to revive in the Biden administration, though perhaps under a more collaborative, less coercive model.

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What legislators can learn from a Boston public housing development

Jasmine Nicole Olivier

October 02, 2020 |

The Boston Globe |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Over the four decades that a major Boston public housing development was run by a tenant management corporation (TMC), residents' safety and relations with police improved in ways that serve as lessons today as gun violence in neighborhoods with high poverty rates has prompted debates over reimagining public safety. As the first of many TMCs in the nation, the one at the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments lowered crime by changing the dynamic between residents and police, through greater community control. The TMC, with its own police department, was disbanded in 2012. Crime since has gone up there.

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Low-key cops and a white shaggy dog: How Marathon County transformed its response to residents in crisis

Peter Cameron

September 28, 2020 |

Wausau Pilot and Review |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Wausau, Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, plain-clothes law enforcement officers are teaming up with mental health experts to handle calls related to crisis intervention. The goal of the Marathon County Crisis Assessment Response Team is to reduce unnecessary detentions of people experiencing mental health crises, while also increasing trust with the community. In the two years since the program launched, the "rate of hospitalizing or jailing people in crisis" has dropped in both consecutive years, which has consequently saved the county a great deal of expenses.

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Policing the Police 2020

Jelani Cobb

September 15, 2020 |

PBS Frontline |

Documentary |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

Revisiting Newark police reform six years after an earlier documentary, and after federal intervention, signs of progress provide hope in a year of unrest over police misconduct nationwide. Policies and training were overhauled, civilian oversight was imposed, albeit with limitations. Public trust edged up, and the police claim an increase in use-of-force incidents is due to better compliance with reporting requirements. Violence is down, with more use of community-based prevention instead of just policing. But the root causes of racial disparities remain, unable to be solved just by improving policing.

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