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

Adhiti Bandlamudi

January 15, 2020 |

WUNC |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

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

The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board

January 10, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

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

Champe Barton

January 08, 2020 |

The Trace |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

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?

Dan Rodricks

January 01, 2020 |

The Baltimore Sun |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

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

Sylvia Varnham O'Regan

December 13, 2019 |

The Trace |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

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

Amanda Loudin

December 11, 2019 |

The Trace |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Ellicott City, Maryland

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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Philly wants to bring back a version of an old strategy to fight gun violence. Specifics are pending.

Chris Palmer

December 06, 2019 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Starting in 2013, Philadelphia's focused deterrence program was credited with 35% fewer shootings in its targeted neighborhoods. The program featured "call-ins" where law-enforcement agencies would threaten potentially violent people with prosecution. On the flip side, they could receive services that help them establish a different lifestyle. As the program shifted away from the services "carrots," and was left only with the "stick," the program foundered. In 2019, the city sought to revive it as a "group violence intervention" program with a greater emphasis on services over law enforcement.

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This Baltimore anti-violence program courts youths most at risk of crime. ‘The alternative is death or jail.'

Jessica Anderson

November 26, 2019 |

The Baltimore Sun |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

In the first year of Baltimore's use of an anti-violence program for young men that has proven successful in Boston, the program successfully reached about half its targeted contacts, and from that group enrolled about 95, or just over 1%, in job training and education programs. Though extremely modest, the numbers indicate the challenges faced by a population in which several died, many got incarcerated, and many others resisted contact. The program, Roca, uses behavioral therapy to turn job training into life training. In Boston, large numbers get jobs and stay out of trouble long term.

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After positive results, Minneapolis looks to expand anti-violence program

Jessica Lee

November 18, 2019 |

MinnPost |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

About 40% fewer people were shot in gang-related disputes in Minneapolis during one interval in the first year of the city's Group Violence Intervention initiative. The program uses "call-ins" where people at high risk of shootings meet with law enforcement and other agencies. There they are offered incentives, including needed services, to stop the shootings. It also puts former gang members on the streets, without police involvement, to mediate disputes and counsel young men prone to violence. Based on the initial results, officials planned to expand the program to more parts of the city.

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The police experiment that changed what we know about foot patrol

Liz Tung

November 15, 2019 |

WHYY |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Of the three most notable experiments testing the effectiveness of police foot patrols at reducing crime, only one – the Philadelphia Foot Patrol Experiment – showed a significant reduction in violence, thanks to a three-month randomized controlled trial. By rethinking an old practice and infusing it with data-driven thinking about focusing on "hot spots," the Philadelphia brand of foot patrols debunked the myth that patrol might, at best, only improve community relations without having an effect on crime. But random car patrols, reacting mainly to radio calls, remains the dominant approach nationwide.

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