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  • Can This Smart Street Stop Drinkers Getting Violent?

    December 16, 2018 |

    BBC |

    Radio |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: Netherlands, Eindhoven

    The city of Eindhoven is piloting a handful of experiments to reduce alcohol-induced violence. They include "sound cameras" that trigger when someone is yelling, to cameras that measure crowd density, both of which prompt police to go to the affected area to investigate. Although the algorithms aren't perfect and sometimes there are false alarms, the city is still pushing forward with the goal of making the streets safer for all.

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  • Cellphones made it harder for Denver's 911 call takers to track people down. Finally, that's starting to change.

    November 23, 2018 |

    The Colorado Sun |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

    The same technology that helps companies like Uber find their customers is now available to public safety agencies to ensure accurate location detection from cell phone calls. Denver is among the first cities to implement the updated technology and since the city launched it in mid-2018, it has delivered an accuracy percentage in the 90s, which means first responders don't waste precious time trying to find someone in crisis. The key is for cell phone users to have updated operating systems.

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  • Colorado is only state testing military tech to keep firefighters safe

    November 15, 2018 |

    KDVR-TV |

    Broadcast TV News |

    Under 3 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Colorado

    Colorado is adapting a military technology to help crews fight wildfires. The Android Team Awareness Kit, or ATAK, was designed to keep Special Forces safe in combat zones by showing pilots their locations, and now firefighters will be able to use the free app on their phones to find where they are and assess what kind of fire they are seeing on the ground. Colorado is the only state allowed to tweak the app for use in fires, but the plan is to roll it out nationwide after modification.

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  • In Chula Vista, Calif., Drones Now Respond to 911 Calls

    October 29, 2018 |

    San Diego Union-Tribune |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Chula Vista

    Police in Chula Vista, Calif., are using drones to respond to some emergency calls as part of a pilot program between the Federal Aviation Administration, Chula Vista and the city of San Diego. It’s an idea from Ensenada, Mexico, where use of drones prompted a 10 percent drop in crime, and on its first day in Chula Vista drones responded to 30 emergency calls that led to three arrests. The FAA is working with police to rewrite regulations as the program evolves to adapt to police needs.

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  • The city that gives you free beer for cycling

    October 23, 2018 |

    BBC |

    Broadcast TV News |

    Under 3 Minutes

    Response Location: Italy, Bologna

    A fun app called “Bella Mossa” has incentivized people to ditch their cars in Bologna. The anti-pollution effort gives users credits for biking, walking, and using public transport. Users can then swap their credits for rewards from local shopkeepers, such as free beer and ice cream.

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  • Houston Looks for a Smarter, More Equitable Path to Hurricane Recovery

    October 22, 2018 |

    Bloomberg CityLab |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

    The city of Houston is changing its approach to measuring the full scope of damage from Hurricane Harvey so it can get help where it is most needed and improve future flood mitigation. Using data from numerous sources, Civis Analytics found unmet housing needs were far greater than initially recorded and low-income areas were hit disproportionately harder, even though recovery funding often goes to areas with higher housing values. Now city officials are working to implement solutions based on the data in order to allocate limited funds where they will be most effective.

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  • The California Indigenous Peoples Using Fire for Agroforestry

    October 16, 2018 |

    Pacific Standard |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, California

    The Karuk and Yoruk tribes use prescribed burning to keep land healthy and encourage the growth of traditional foods and medicines. New resources and partnerships are helping to bring back small-scale fires and revive important cultural practices.

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  • Sexual-Harassment-Reporting Apps Help Stop Abuse in Global City Streets

    October 12, 2018 |

    New York Magazine |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: India

    Using data collection and visualization, apps like SafeCity, HarassMap, and #WalkFreely are crowdsourcing locations where individuals have been sexually harassed or assaulted so that others know to take precautions. Some operate on a global scale, others locally, but what they all offer is a platform for people to share their story and hopefully prevent it from happening again. Such apps have led to action from community members, the media, and officials who have taken notice of the high rates in certain places and taken action.

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  • The Crime Machine, Part II

    October 12, 2018 |

    Gimlet Media |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    CompStat seemed like a miracle of technology and data when it was rolled out in New York City in the 1990s. Crime dropped as police leadership demanded precincts report every crime and what they were doing about it at weekly meetings where they were pressured to conform to this new system. But this also resulted in police distorting actual crime data to avoid reporting crimes in their districts and the push for increased police activity resulted in cops targeting minorities for minor offenses.

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  • The Crime Machine, Part I

    October 11, 2018 |

    Gimlet Media |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    The creation of CompStat fostered a huge drop in crime rates in New York City by the 1990s. The idea came from an odd and obsessive transit cop was to track every single crime daily in every precinct and use that data to systematically go after everything from murders to low-level crimes once ignored by police. It was a drastic shift in the way NYPD worked and was credited with making the city far safer, but was also flawed.

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