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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Program in Oregon provides blueprint for San Diego mental health services

Jared Aarons

May 10, 2021 |

KGTV-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

As San Diego County ramps up its CAHOOTS copycat – a mental health crisis response that sends specialists other than police to non-violent calls, similar to the long-running exemplar in Eugene, Oregon – it's beginning to see positive results: 34 calls since January, with only one needing police. But it probably needs to change how people can ask for its help. The San Diego Mobile Crisis Response Team has a phone number separate from the 911 system. Eugene's police chief says calls to 911 in Eugene offer help from police, fire, or CAHOOTS, a persistent and explicit reminder to the public of the alternative.

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Failure to Thrive: NYC's $100 Million ‘Diversion Centers' for Mentally Ill Sit Empty or Barely Used

Greg B. Smith Reuven Blau

May 09, 2021 |

The City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Despite committing hundreds of millions of dollars to programs that make New York City's emergency response to mental health crises less punitive, a pattern of over-promising and under-delivering, plus pandemic snarls, kept the programs from getting off to an effective start. Two "diversion centers" where police could bring people in crisis, as alternatives to jail or hospital emergency rooms, either sit empty or have served only a tiny number of people. A program to send counselors with police on calls never got off the ground. In its place is a non-policing team that is having trouble recruiting EMTs.

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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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The Ferguson movement is on the cusp of revolutionizing political power in St. Louis

Rebecca Rivas

May 06, 2021 |

Missouri Independent |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

Frustrated at the slow pace of criminal justice reform after the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, the grassroots group Action St. Louis formed to seize political power and make change happen from the inside of the system rather than pressuring for change from the outside. After years of organizing and politicking, it flipped key offices – St. Louis city and county prosecutors, the Board of Aldermen, and the mayor – outflanking the police union's candidates with officeholders committed to re-imagining public safety policy.

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Can police be taught to stop their own violence?

Douglas Starr

May 06, 2021 |

The Boston Globe |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

When Minneapolis police officers were videotaped standing by or trying ineffectively to intervene in George Floyd's murder by a fellow officer, horrified police departments nationwide rushed to embrace a peer intervention program called ABLE (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement). ABLE is based on a five-year-old program that has helped transform the culture of New Orleans' once-troubled police department, cutting shootings, taser uses, and citizen complaints. Officers are taught how to overcome rank and cultural inhibitors with actions and language that stop brutality by their colleagues.

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‘The fight has to change': Why Ferguson activists ditched police reform

Rebecca Rivas

May 03, 2021 |

Missouri Independent |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

Decades of advocacy for more effective civilian oversight of police-misconduct investigations in St. Louis finally resulted in a new oversight board created in the wake of the death of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson. But that board has been rendered a "total failure" because the police found ways to keep steering investigations to their secret, internal investigative office and preventing prosecutors from working independently on investigations. A new mayor and a sympathetic prosecuting attorney promise to fix the structural flaws that have let the police continue to investigate themselves.

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To Solve 3 Cold Cases, This Small County Got a DNA Crash Course

Virginia Hughes

May 03, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kentland, Indiana

Genetic genealogy's use in criminal cases has gone mainstream. As the cases of three murder victims in Indiana illustrate, the science of DNA evidence combined with genealogical research and detective work is rapidly ramping up, from a hobby to a curiosity and now to a major commercial and criminal-justice opportunity. Hundreds of missing persons have been identified from decades-old remains, or murder suspects identified from old biological evidence in cold cases. By creating a family tree of the victim or suspect, investigators can zero in on an identity more quickly and inexpensively than ever.

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Outreach officers treat homelessness as a symptom, not a crime

Stephanie Casanova

May 01, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team operates on the premise that even though many want to see police excluded from any role in dealing with homelessness, residents still call 911 and demand a police response. So the team, working with the city's homeless services counselors, can usually turn such contacts into an offer of help. Its officers are trained more and have more time than patrol officers to talk to people and determine their needs. Tucson's unhoused population surged in 2020, and police helped hundreds get housed or get other services without resorting to arrests and jail.

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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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