Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Black women legislators are rare in statehouses. This could be the solution.

    September 25, 2020 |

    The 19th |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Washington

    A newly established PAC in Washington state aims to increase the likelihood of Black women being elected to Washington State Legislature by eliminating the financial barrier that often impedes candidates from running their campaigns on an equal playing field. Although it is yet to be seen how the elections will turn out, the PAC has already succeeded in fundraising over $200,000 and distributing those funds to various campaigns.

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

    September 24, 2020 |

    LAist |

    Text |

    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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  • Chicago Teens Unveil Vision for Change and Public Safety in Their Neighborhood

    September 23, 2020 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

    Twenty high school students enrolled in Territory, an urban design nonprofit, produced a zine and their own quality of life report for West Austin, where many of the students live. The students conducted interviews, surveys, and gathered community input to create the report. It includes sections on public safety, youth empowerment, and mental health.

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  • How Did These Students Get The City To Change The Name Of Douglass Park? They Built Collective Power And Didn't Back Down

    September 22, 2020 |

    Block Club Chicago |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

    Chicago students organized and, for the first time, convinced the city to rename a park in honor of Frederick and Anna Murray Douglass. The former Douglas Park was named after a Civil War era Illinois senator who advocated to expand slavery, and whose wife owned slaves. Not daunted by the city’s bureaucracy, the students canvassed in their community and gathered over 10,000 signatures for a petition to change the park’s name. The campaign, which began in 2017, was much harder and longer than the students anticipated, but by forming a coalition and continuing to speak out they persevered.

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

    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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  • Voting from Jail Is a Right, and Now a Reality in Chicago

    September 21, 2020 |

    70 Million |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

    Chicago's Cook County Jail became the first jail in the nation in March to open a polling place behind bars, resulting in about 1,800 voters casting ballots, a sharp increase in voting by eligible voters in the jail. The polling place, combined with expanded voter-registration efforts, resulted from a new Illinois law requiring all counties to expand voting access. Outside of Chicago that means voting by mail. The Chicago experience provides a window into efforts nationwide to expand voting access to people incarcerated in jails and prisons, or with criminal records.

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  • Digging Our Way Out of the Hole: The Safe Alternative to Solitary Audio icon

    September 16, 2020 |

    The Crime Report |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Washington

    Washington's prison system cut by half the number of people held in solitary confinement by reducing its security system's reliance on the method and helping former solitary detainees transition back to the general population in a healthier way. But a formerly incarcerated journalist who spent more than seven of his 27 years in prison locked in solitary confinement says the state's disciplinary system is still rooted in an overly punitive approach to mostly petty offenses. A system based on positive incentives to good behavior exists in North Dakota prisons, modeled in part on Norway's approach.

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  • Unreasonable suspicion: When residents call police, who pays the price when bias shapes their concerns?

    September 16, 2020 |

    The Cap Times |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Monona, Wisconsin

    When the police got called to check on a "suspicious" Black man at the door of a house in a mostly white suburb of Madison, they held him at gun point until he convinced them he was there with the owner's permission. The resulting public outrage has turned into a search for solutions. While the city pays for a study of its policies and questions the adequacy of its implicit-bias training of police officers and 911 operators, neighborhood groups are working to educate residents about alternatives to calling police for all but the most serious threats to safety.

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  • Policing the Police 2020

    September 15, 2020 |

    PBS Frontline |

    Documentary |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

    Revisiting Newark police reform six years after an earlier documentary, and after federal intervention, signs of progress provide hope in a year of unrest over police misconduct nationwide. Policies and training were overhauled, civilian oversight was imposed, albeit with limitations. Public trust edged up, and the police claim an increase in use-of-force incidents is due to better compliance with reporting requirements. Violence is down, with more use of community-based prevention instead of just policing. But the root causes of racial disparities remain, unable to be solved just by improving policing.

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  • Will the Special Investigative Unit decrease gun violence in Flint? Audio icon

    September 15, 2020 |

    Flint Beat |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Flint, Michigan

    In the first full month since it was created to take illegal guns off the street, Flint's Special Investigative Unit seized 64 firearms and made dozens of arrests. The unit's predictive policing approach relies on data that tell the police where gun crimes are concentrated. Critics contend that focusing enforcement on historically high-crime areas creates a feedback loop of racially disparate policing, in that more cops in a neighborhood means more arrests, which in turn invites more enforcement. Targeted gun enforcement has a mixed record of crime reductions and racial inequities.

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