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Africa turns to telemedicine to close mental health gap

Paul Adepoju

November 01, 2020 |

The Lancet |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ghana

Even before the coronavirus pandemic limited access to health care facilities, health specialists across Africa were already beginning to turn to technology-based mental health services to offer care with fewer barriers for patients. Despite its growth in use during the pandemic, some doctors caution that it does not necessarily replace in-person consultations, but is still very useful.

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Philly police rebuffed offers from crisis response center to work together, director says

Michaela Winberg Max Marin

October 29, 2020 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Since early 2019, a mental-health crisis response center, the West Philadelphia Consortium, has worked to get the police to call in the consortium's mobile crisis team to de-escalate crises and get people into treatment. In more than 1,200 cases in 2019, police made only six arrests and no one died. After police shot and killed Walter Wallace, Jr., during a mental-health crisis, the consortium revealed that it had worked with Wallace but wasn't called for help when police were summoned to his home. The consortium seeks to formalize its relationship with the police department to prevent more violence.

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Joe Biden Should Stop Bragging About the Violence Against Women Act

Elizabeth Nolan Brown

October 29, 2020 |

Reason |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The Violence Against Women Act was billed as a way to make a patriarchal society, and policing profession in particular, take domestic violence more seriously. It encouraged policies making arrest of alleged abusers mandatory, even to the point of punishing victims who refused to cooperate in prosecutions. This has backfired on many victims, especially women of color who distrust police and their punitive approaches to solving family problems. The law also prioritizes punitive approaches in its awarding of federal grants, thus denying victim aid to women who do not wish to cooperate with arrests.

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Police de-escalation training gaining renewed clout as law enforcement seeks to reduce killings

Tom Jackman Dan Morse

October 27, 2020 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Louisville, Kentucky

A de-escalation training program from the Police Executive Research Forum, used by 85 police agencies already, was shown in Louisville to reduce police officers' use of force by 28%. The training resulted in 26% fewer injuries to residents, and an even larger drop in injured officers. The training focuses on incidents where the person is not armed with a gun but often is in a mental-health crisis. Contrary to traditional training that emphasizes command-and-control tactics with escalating shows of force, PERF's approach teaches officers to slow and calm the situation in ways that can avoid a shooting.

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Nigerians don't trust the government to respond to emergency calls. So they created apps instead.

Innocent Chizaram Ilo

October 24, 2020 |

Rest of World |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

Fearful and distrustful of corrupt and abusive police forces, Nigerians by the thousands have downloaded locally developed mobile apps like Sety and Aabo to call friends for help during abductions or other emergencies. These first-responder apps feature panic buttons that alert contacts or people nearby during an emergency. The app makers do not share usage data, but users say they feel safer by having such apps available if they are harassed by the police or in need of protection from an attack.

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Two years in, Maryland leads most other states in use of ‘red flag' gun law

Ben Leonard

October 23, 2020 |

The Baltimore Sun |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Maryland

Two years after Maryland adopted a law allowing for court orders denying gun access to people at high risk of harming themselves or others, police and the public have invoked the law far more often than in most states with similar laws. It is difficult to prove that domestic-violence assaults or suicides have been prevented. But advocates and law enforcement officials say they have seen that effect. Research has documented that extreme-risk protection orders, as such laws are known, can prevent suicides. Credit for the law's use goes to police training and 24/7 court access for emergency hearings.

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Could a Simple Intervention Fight a Suicide Crisis?

Sarah Weiser

October 21, 2020 |

PBS |

Broadcast TV Programs |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

In the 1960s, a psychologist and a team of researchers in San Francisco began sending “caring letters" as a means of suicide intervention, but the practice didn't continue outside of the research study, despite showing positive results. Today though, a clinical psychologist has begun to reintroduce the intervention, via text messages and emails, as a practice to specifically help U.S. service members and veterans.

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Minnesota has figured out a way to help stressed farmers. Can it be replicated?

Marissa Plescia

October 07, 2020 |

Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minnesota

The Rural Mental Health Outreach program in Minnesota is helping farmers in the region to tackle mental health challenges that are related to the stresses involved in their profession. Other states have taken notice of the program's success and are now piloting similar programs as a means of addressing a rising concern of suicide within the farming industry.

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Pro-gun localities accounted for nearly half of Virginia's red flag orders in law's first months

Graham Moomaw

October 06, 2020 |

Virginia Mercury |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Virginia

Strong local opposition to Virginia's new red-flag law and other gun-control measures did not dissuade some local law enforcement agencies from using the law for its intended purpose: to temporarily confiscate the guns of people deemed a threat to themselves or others. In the law's first two months, roughly half of 21 red flag cases filed were in counties and cities that passed resolutions opposing the passage and enforcement of the law. In Virginia Beach, a self-proclaimed Second Amendment Constitutional City, police made multiple uses of the tool, as state legislators had hoped when they enacted it.

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Training police to patrol each other

Daniel Gordon

October 06, 2020 |

BBC |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

In the wake of George Floyd's killing by police in Minneapolis, where several officers failed to prevent one officer's actions, New Orleans police have been besieged by requests from police nationwide to export their method of training officers to intervene to prevent misconduct by fellow officers. New Orleans' reputation for police brutality and corruption has improved, in part because of its "active bystander" training. Complaints are down and public support is up. Now its internal EPIC training course is available free to other departments as ABLE: Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement.

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