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

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  • Brokering peace on the South Side

    Outreach workers with CRED (Create Real Economic Destiny) in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood are paid under a city grant to de-escalate and mediate disputes among the same gangs that some of the workers once belonged to. Able to win the trust of people who distrust the police, CRED's violence prevention workers also provide therapy to trauma victims and job development help, in order to address the underlying causes of violence in a neighborhood where a lack of hope can breed a lack of respect for others' lives. Fatal shootings in Roseland are down by one-third while up elsewhere in Chicago.

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  • Why Detroit Might Be the True Test of Whether More Cameras Make Cities Safer

    In Detroit, Project Greenlight uses video surveillance technology to try to solve and deter street crime. Instead of the police requesting private security video after a crime occurs, businesses pay to install the Greenlight system, which then streams video live to police analysts. The police claim it has lowered crime, but researches have found no evidence that it affects violent crime rates. Critics see the system as a pay-to-play system in which businesses buy better police protection. And they say that the cameras, and the use of facial recognition software, bias enforcement against people of color.

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

    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

    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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  • The Big Dance: Saving the Great Bear Rainforest

    Finding common ground between environmentalists, logging companies, and indigenous communities to protect the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada took years of discussion and even a dance at an Elton John concert. But these groups were able to negotiate an agreement to make 3.1 million hectares of rainforest off limits to logging, allow 500,000 hectares available for forestry, and strengthen First Nations rights. The process could be a model for what reconciliation can look like among competing interests.

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

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

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

    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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  • No Problems Expected For Hawaii's New Vote-By-Mail System For The Nov. 3 Election

    Election officials in Hawaii made adjustments to their election regulations for the August 2020 primary that resulted in the highest voter turnout for a primary in two decades. The state offered multiple ways to return ballots and created a new system to help voters with special needs. They also implemented security measures, including unique bar codes and signature verification, to deter fraud. The state earned an “A” in the Brookings Institution’s ranking of states’ preparedness to vote during a pandemic and will use insights from the primary to increase access even more during the general election.

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

    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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