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

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  • What California can learn from Seattle about police shootings

    Seattle has taken a comprehensive approach to police reform, including forming a community police commission, the development of policies on appropriate weapon use, more oversight on police force, and the creation of a specialty unit that focuses on mental health. While there has been pushback from officers, the safety of officers hasn’t been compromised and the use of force has decreased by sixty percent. With some calling it a success, California seeks to implement similar reform at the state level.

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  • Can 'deliberative polling' solve political polarization?

    While many politicians use political polarization to their advantage, communities across the world are finding that talking through the divide can actually have an impact on how someone votes. Polls conducted before and after community dialogue sessions show that perspectives of many of those participating changed, and in Ireland, many think this strategy is what resulted in the legalization of abortion.

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  • IMPD used to fatally shoot more people than NYC or Chicago. Here's what changed.

    Under new leadership, Indianapolis has seen a drastic decline in fatal police shootings. While the new police chief, Bryan Roach, shares credit with his entire force, many credit his new policies for the decline. Initiatives like addressing behavioral health, implicit bias training, and mental health crisis training are just some of the changes being made. While much progress has been made, there is still a ways to go when it comes to rebuilding trust within the community.

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  • The ‘Badass Grandmas' Who Fought Corruption and Won

    An unlikely group of "Badass Grandmas" came together in North Dakota to fight corruption in state government. Coming from both Democratic and Republican backgrounds, the group formed organically during an early morning discussion. Inspired by their neighbors in South Dakota, the group successfully passed a constitutional amendment approved by voters to overhaul government ethics oversight.

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  • By the people: How Ohio citizens better their communities through direct action

    Grassroots movements made up of ordinary citizens can go a long way in creating change. This article details several initiatives across Ohio that were led by citizens using a combination of lobbying, education, persistence, knowledge of government practices, and organization. Some things that were achieved using these methods are wage reimbursements and increased bus access.

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  • As law enforcement nationwide faces scrutiny, cameras protect both public and officers

    Across the United States, 95 percent of law enforcement agencies have started using body cameras. In North Carolina, the majority of departments have started using such technology in the hopes of increasing transparency, trust, and accountability. While the use of body cams is wanted by both police and the community, finding the funding to purchase and maintain them has been a challenge for some departments.

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  • Court Observers Are Shining a Light on the Immigration Court System

    One way that any ordinary citizen can lend a hand to the plight of those caught in the American immigration system is by being a court observer: someone who sits in immigration court and takes notes by hand. Several organizations are working to develop a standardized way of evaluating judges' treatment of migrants to put it in a central database so that the data can be used to evaluate the human impact by the system as a whole. People who participate testify to the job alleviating despair over the situation as they can mitigate any unfair practices going unnoticed.

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  • Evidence of a solution: Using data to report more than just bad news

    Fact-based, data-driven, and solution-oriented journalism can shift the media paradigm from asking “what” to asking “how.” Solutions journalism, known also as constructive journalism in Europe, focuses on data and evidence to shift discourse from political advocacy and ideological debates to problem-solving and productive discussion. Using this approach, students in Eugene, Oregon, brought accountability to municipal administrators who had previously obfuscated the effectiveness of a program to reduce court caseloads.

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  • Black People Are Charged at a Higher Rate Than Whites. What if Prosecutors Didn't Know Their Race?

    The San Francisco District Attorney’s office has been instituting “blind charging,” making it impossible to see someone’s name, race, and other demographics before deciding to charge them with a crime. This new practice comes as a response to accusations of racial bias and profiling when deciding whether to pursue a charge – citing that black people are disproportionately targeted within the criminal justice system.

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  • How They Did It: Exposing Police Violence Against the Yellow Vests

    In what started as a series of posts on Twitter and evolved into a public database published by an investigative media outlet, Mediapart, a lone reporter documented police violence against France's Yellow Vest protesters in an act of accountability that had been neglected by other journalists and the government. David Dufresne's “Allô Place Beauvau” (a "hello" to France's interior ministry) documented 800 cases of police violence or misbehavior. Many of the cases came to Dufresne as tips from the public, which he then verified. His work was cited by French and international authorities.

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