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Inspiring Tale of a Chicago Neighborhood That Would Not Die

Martha Irvine

November 25, 2019 |

Associated Press |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Community members and local organizations on the South side of Chicago collaborate to reclaim their neighborhoods from crime, violence, and poverty by engaging in community conflict resolution, policing and networks of support. Groups like the Southwest Organizing Project and the Inner-City Muslim Action Network banded together to interrupt gang violence in the city, relying on the experience of former gang members and offenders to guide the organizations' missions for non-violence in their communities.

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Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops

Jenifer McShane

November 15, 2019 |

HBO |

Documentary |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Antonio, Texas

Two officers with the San Antonio Police Department's Mental Health Unit show how they respond to mental health crises with empathetic listening and de-escalation tactics rather than the traditional police tactics of command and control. The small unit can only handle a tiny percentage of the city's crisis calls. But the officers also run the training of all incoming police cadets, who now get 40 hours of Crisis Intervention Team training. This policing tactic works only because it exists within a well-developed system of mental health care in the city.

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'The woods, they hide so much': Animal Cruelty out of sight out of mind?

Rebecca Lindstrom Lindsey Basye

November 12, 2019 |

WXIA-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

To address animal cruelty in Pennsylvania, a team of law enforcement officers are receiving special training to better identify and prosecute the guilty. This effort gives limited enforcement powers to those trained and allows them to be hired by animal welfare groups to serve search warrants, charge and arrest those involved, and appear in court.

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Seattle's already doing what California's about to do to limit police use of force. How's it working out?

Laurel Rosenhall Brian Howey

November 07, 2019 |

CalMatters |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

In the past decade, Seattle has reduced their use of force by 60 percent. Spurred by a court order, the reduction comes from greater de-escalation training, stricter, more nuanced policies, and more collaboration between law enforcement and activists. While moving the needle, many cite the long way the city has to go, especially when it comes to how force is still used disproportionately on communities of color. But because they’ve made progress without endangering officers, other states like California look to Seattle as a model of reform.

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Fresh Data Shows How Focused Deterrence Can Keep At-Risk Individuals from Crime

Champe Barton

November 06, 2019 |

The Trace |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

In 2013, Detroit’s law enforcement agencies started using focused deterrence – a method that uses data to identify at-risk individuals – to decrease the rate of violent crime in the city. The method, part of the national program, Ceasefire, partners police departments with social workers and other city services to deter people from criminal behavior. A new study in the journal, Crime and Delinquency, has been published that links the strategy to decreased crime rates and recidivism.

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What California can learn from Seattle about police shootings

Laurel Rosenhall

October 26, 2019 |

CalMatters |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

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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Flock Safety Says Its License Plate Readers Reduce Crime. It's Not That Simple

Louise Matsakis

October 24, 2019 |

Wired |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Austell, Georgia

Cobb County, Georgia installed new license plate surveillance technology, loaned to them by the Atlanta-based company, Flock Safety. After installation, the test area saw a dramatic decrease in crime, to which Flock took credit for but experts say the connection could be due to a number of things. Furthermore, while surveillance technology has been correlated with decreased crime, communities have called into question issues of personal privacy versus public safety.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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