Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 785 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

The Kim Foxx Effect: How Prosecutions Have Changed in Cook County

Matt Daniels

October 24, 2019 |

The Marshall Project |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

In her first two and a half years in office as Chicago’s top prosecutor, Kim Foxx lived up to her campaign pledge to prosecute fewer low-level crimes, divert drug cases to treatment, and focus more on gun violence. An analysis of an unprecedented data release shows that Foxx’s office turned away more than 5,000 cases, mostly shoplifting and drug offenses, based on her vow to stop over-criminalizing behavior in ways that ruin lives. Meanwhile, her office prosecuted more gun crimes. Police complained her policies will increase crime, but in the short term at least there was no evidence that they had.

Read More
Go to Original Story
A Police Department's Difficult Assignment: Atonement

Michael Friedrich

October 23, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Stockton, California

The city of Stockton police department has embarked on a number of initiatives in the hopes of building trust between them and the communities they work for. With initial funding from the Department of Justice, the department began truth-and-reconciliation processes, including workshops, departmental reforms, public apologies, and community conversations. Actual reconciliation is hard to measure, and yet their efforts to atone for their part in historic and systemic racism have shown positive results.

Read More
Go to Original Story
In Cahoots: How the unlikely pairing of cops and hippies became a national model

Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick

October 20, 2019 |

The Register-Guard |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

Long before CAHOOTS became a national model for replacing police on some 911 calls with mobile crisis-response teams of medics and counselors, it represented an "odd marriage of police resources and counterculture philosophies." The acronym for Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets is in fact a sly reference to White Bird Clinic's hippies "in cahoots" with cops. But the police have long since made their peace with the service, which spends a tiny fraction of what it costs to run Eugene's police department while handling a large share of non-violent crises involving homelessness and mental health.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Baltimore CeaseFire Cuts Violence In Half

Jaisal Noor

October 17, 2019 |

The Real News Network |

Broadcast TV Programs |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

The Baltimore Ceasefire movement -- which asks community members to put away their guns for specific weekends -- began in 2017 when its organizers had enough of the gun violence in their city. Now, the ceasefire weekends, which happen 4 times a year, have resulted in 30-60% fewer gun-related deaths during designated weekends.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How a Silicon Valley Start-up Is Helping Police Get Smarter About Solving Gun Crimes

Alain Stephens

October 15, 2019 |

The Trace |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Forensic Logic, a Silicon Valley startup, has developed a database called the Law Enforcement Analysis Portal (LEAP) that collects, streamlines, and analyzes police data in one, centralized digital portal. With forensic and other law enforcement data often being fragmented and siloed, LEAP gives access to information otherwise unavailable to thousands of police departments.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Gun Investigators Cautiously Optimistic About New Fingerprint Technology

Ann Givens

October 11, 2019 |

The Trace |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: England, Loughborough

A collaboration between England’s Loughborough University, the UK’s Ministry of Defence, and a company called Foster + Freeman has led to a new technology that can pull fingerprints from shell casings. What was once a nearly impossible task, is showing promise, as police departments across the United States try out the new technology. That said, there are still some questions about its efficacy and ability to stand up as evidence in court.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Gun Reform is on the Agenda. But Victims of Color Aren't.

Champe Barton

October 09, 2019 |

The Trace |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

With gun reform being a key legislative topic, the majority of time, energy, and resources have focused on preventing mass shootings, which amount to just 2-3% of gun-related homicides. The rest affect majority communities of color, which policy, lobbying, and reform efforts have largely ignored. Even with local violence-reduction efforts like Oakland’s LIVE FREE focused deterrence or a Chicago school’s focus on cognitive behavioral therapy showing impact, the allotted resources at the federal level continue to pass them by.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Do Deportations Lower Crime? Not According to the Data

Anna Flagg

September 23, 2019 |

The Marshall Project |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Nashville, Tennessee

A federal deportation program called Secure Communities has been around off and on since 2008, and is a collaboration between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While responding to a perceived connection between illegal immigration and crime, the heavy-handed approach to deportation hasn’t actually had any effect on crime rates, recent studies have shown. The research has also fact-checked another myth about the program – that it helps police solve crimes better – which hasn’t proven to have any distinct correlation.

Read More
Go to Original Story
IMPD used to fatally shoot more people than NYC or Chicago. Here's what changed.

Casey Smith Ryan Martin

September 18, 2019 |

IndyStar (The Indianapolis Star) |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Indianapolis, Indiana

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.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Women Are Faring in the World's Largest Refugee Camp

Jennifer Chowdhury

September 17, 2019 |

Zora |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Bangladesh, Ukhia, Cox's Bazar

In the Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Bangladesh, Rohingya women are overcoming the societal restraints that bound them at home in Myanmar and becoming leaders and change-makers in their community. Despite resistance from the men, hundreds of women in the camp banded together to form a group called Shanti Mohila. This allowed them to push for more peace and justice and issues like domestic violence, and they even received support from Legal Action Worldwide to prosecute crimes against the Rohingya people.

Read More
Go to Original Story