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In Rio, Mapping Gunshots Can Backfire

Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

September 29, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro

Crime-tracking mobile apps give millions of Brazilians crowdsourced data on urban violence, alerting people to dangerous places and filling gaps in government data on shootings, robberies, and other risks. But apps such as Fogo Cruzado (“Crossfire”) and Onde Tem Tiroteio (“Where There's a Shooting”) offer statistically crude glimpses of crime, distorted by media and racial biases that one expert blames for myths about the risks people actually face.

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The Obama Justice Department Had a Plan to Hold Police Accountable for Abuses. The Trump DOJ Has Undermined It.

Robert Faturechi

September 29, 2020 |

ProPublica |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

One of the most powerful tools used to reform policing practices, widely credited with restoring public faith in such troubled departments as the Los Angeles Police Department, is called a consent decree. The U.S. Justice Department sues cities where police abuses are seen as rampant. Then, under the watchful eye of a judge and independent monitor, the department agrees to a package of reforms. Under the Trump Justice Department, though, the tool has gone unused in new cases. In existing cases, the government has become passive, allowing cities to flout their agreements without consequence.

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Why Detroit Might Be the True Test of Whether More Cameras Make Cities Safer

Sonia Paul

September 28, 2020 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

In Detroit, Project Greenlight uses video surveillance technology to try to solve and deter street crime. Instead of the police requesting private security video after a crime occurs, businesses pay to install the Greenlight system, which then streams video live to police analysts. The police claim it has lowered crime, but researches have found no evidence that it affects violent crime rates. Critics see the system as a pay-to-play system in which businesses buy better police protection. And they say that the cameras, and the use of facial recognition software, bias enforcement against people of color.

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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 |

Text |

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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Do We Need Police To Curb L.A.'s Traffic Violence? Some Cities Are Saving Lives Without Them

Ryan Fonseca

September 24, 2020 |

LAist |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Five years after Los Angeles launched its Vision Zero program to reduce traffic fatalities, the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists killed on city streets have soared. By relying too heavily on the racially fraught and often ineffective practice of police stops of vehicles, and by not spending enough on street redesigns and automated enforcement technologies, L.A. has failed to make the kind of progress that cities like New York and Seattle have made with engineering innovations, stricter speed limits, and camera enforcement.

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In New Zealand, Police Work and Social Work Can Go Together

Serena Solomon

September 22, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: New Zealand, South Auckland

In South Auckland, epicenter of New Zealand's high rates of domestic violence, police respond to calls for help but instantly call in Te Taanga Manawa, a Māori-led team of multiple, culturally appropriate social-services agencies to guide families toward fixing the root of their problems. In the past, police may have made referrals to services agencies. But the Māori's distrust and the time lag in getting offers of help meant that families often rejected it, having papered over their conflict for a time. Now, nearly all accept the help offered while the crisis is still hot.

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Polish Drivers Beware: Road Work Ahead

Kacper Sulowski

September 22, 2020 |

Gazeta Wyborcza |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Lithuania

A series of methodically planned and publicized measures to improve traffic safety have significantly lowered Lithuania's highway fatalities in what is now serving as a model for safety advocates in neighboring Poland. Starting nearly a decade ago, after traffic deaths peaked, Lithuania began increasing penalties for violations, toughening enforcement, and improving roadways. Each phase was accompanied by public education. More lenient laws and enforcement are blamed for Poland's relatively high traffic-death rate.

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The US police department that decided to hire social workers

Josh Wood

September 19, 2020 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Alexandria, Kentucky

When Alexandria, Kentucky's police chief realized how many of his officers' calls were for mental health crises or minor interpersonal disputes, and then how many of these unresolved problems resulted in repeat 911 calls, he hired a social worker to follow up with people to offer health and social services after the police leave. Now the department's two staff social workers do that work, costing less than hiring more police and reducing repeat calls. Alexandria is a small town, but now its approach is being copied in nearby Louisville.

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Program offers alternative to calling police

Jeff Kolkey

September 19, 2020 |

Rockford Register Star |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

For 31 years, CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) has used unarmed medics and crisis intervention experts to respond to mental health and other non-violent crises, saving money and preventing potentially violent reactions that can result from having police respond first. No effects on police officers' use of force have been measured. But CAHOOTS estimates it saves taxpayers $8.5 million annually in police costs.

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Police have shot people experiencing a mental health crisis. Who should you call instead?

Grace Hauck

September 18, 2020 |

USA Today |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Daniel Prude's death in police custody illustrates a common flaw in how police respond to mental health crises, but reform advocates disagree on whether to improve police training or bypass police almost entirely. Mental health crises make up a large share of police calls, jailings, and fatal police shootings. Most police training on mental health responses is limited to 4-12 hours. Some departments put at least some officers through crisis intervention training. But critics of police-focused responses prefer non-police response teams, in use in a few cities.

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