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

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  • This Tiny Louisiana Police Force Is a National Leader in Taking Guns From Abusers

    Despite a strong gun-rights culture in the state, Louisiana law enforcement agencies use aggressive gun-confiscation laws and procedures to disarm domestic abusers as part of a wider array of protections for victims. Thanks to the work of one abuse survivor turned cop in the small south Louisiana parish of Lafourche, new laws and local-federal collaboration have spread statewide, making convicted abusers less likely to have ready access to a gun.

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  • Case-By-Case, Gun-By-Gun: Denver Investigator Is Removing Firearms From Domestic Abusers

    The Denver, Colorado, district attorney’s office assigned an investigator to methodically search for signs that domestic abusers possessed prohibited guns, and then uses that information to take the guns away. Firearm prohibitions are required by federal law or through protective orders issued by courts. But enforcement in many places is spotty to nonexistent. By taking an active rather than passive approach to enforcement, the office has confiscated dozen of guns from people deemed a threat.

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  • Lake Oswego School District Uses Threat Assessment System to Prevent Student Harm

    Oregon's Lake Oswego School District takes a preventative approach to gun violence in its schools. The district's threat assessment team meets with students who have raised red flags, assesses the situation, and, if appropriate, connects them with mental health resources.

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  • This strategy helped stop murders, prosecutors say. But Kansas City police killed it

    Within a year of its creation, a state-federal collaboration to reduce gun violence in Kansas City seemed to result in a deep decline in killings. But the program, called Kansas City No Violence Alliance, collapsed by 2019 after police pulled their support. The program's approach, called focused deterrence, has been proven effective in multiple studies in other cities. But an analysis of the program in Kansas City found multiple failures in consistently getting targeted people to attend call-ins, where they are threatened with arrest if they commit violence but offered social services to choose another path.

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  • The Cycle Of Chronic Gun Violence: How One Community Looks To Save Lives In A New Year

    Gun homicides in Durham increased an alarming 20% in 2019, but one bright spot was the county public health department's Bull City United program. Since 2016, BCU is credited with reducing shootings by 28% in two areas where it was deployed. BCU follows the Cure Violence model, a violence interruption strategy using mediators, sometimes former gang members, to intervene face to face when disputes seem headed for gunfire, offering services to help young people. This public-health model of stopping the spread of violence can fail if used in a transient neighborhood lacking community organizers.

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  • Important lessons for Philadelphia from Chicago's three-year decline in gun violence

    Since 2016, Chicago has seen a 37% decrease in homicides with a comprehensive, targeted approach toward violence. The city developed a multi-pronged approach, including a collaboration between foundations and funders, a partnership that analyzed police decision-making, resource allocation toward a new gun-violence-focused prosecution unit, and targeted investment in high-risk individuals. With such success, cities like Philadelphia – also experiencing an increase in homicides – look to Chicago for lessons learned.

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  • ALICE Is Overstating the Effectiveness of Its Active Shooter Trainings

    The ALICE Training Institute provides active-shooter training for schools around the United States. The organization’s website says that 18 schools have had success using its protocol, and yet an investigation by The Trace found that many of the schools they count as a success actually strayed from its methods. While lacking in proof of concept, school officials did report increased sense of safety and confidence because of the trainings.

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  • Baltimore crime crisis: How about trying something that worked before?

    When Baltimore put the necessary resources behind a “call-in” program that intervenes with people likely to commit gun violence, from 2006 to 2012, homicides dropped by 30% and shootings by 40%. The program, which no longer is used in the city consistently enough or with sufficient resources, summons people on probation or parole for gun crimes. A panel of law enforcement, social workers, and community members pairs the threat of federal prosecution and imprisonment with social services to help people build a new life. This approach has been shown in many cities to be effective at reducing violence.

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  • The Company Behind America's Scariest School Shooter Drills

    The ALICE Training Institute, a for-profit offering active shooter training, teaches participants to take a proactive approach to active shooters, differing from the long-held lock down approach. And while they’ve grown in popularity – the school security industry has grown to be worth $2.7 billion since Columbine – experts and school officials are questioning the approach’s efficacy and quality control. With constant debate and cultural shifts over who bears responsibility to prepare for and protect from shootings, parents are left wondering who or what will really keep their kids safe.

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  • The Sandy Hook Nonprofit Fighting Shootings by Fostering More Inclusive Schools

    Start With Hello, an initiative from the NGO Sandy Hook Promise, gives students the opportunity to diversify who they know and interact with in a long-term effort to prevent school violence and shootings. The program, funded by public and private grants, has spread to 11,600 schools across the United States, with each school also getting training on inclusivity. While an impact evaluation hasn't been finished, early studies show that those who participate in the program respond better to mental distress.

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