'Gang Contracts' in Cicero and Berwyn Schools Raise Concerns About Criminalization of Youth

Irene Romulo

May 26, 2021 |

Cicero Independiente |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cicero, Illinois

"Gang contracts" are used by many schools as a way to tell students they are suspected of gang activity and must avoid such activity or face discipline or expulsion. Gang contracts have been put to extensive use in the high schools and middle schools of two towns, Cicero and Berwyn, that underwent large demographic shifts toward more Latinx residents since the 1990s. Meant to make schools safer and put students on a better path, they have been based often on vague, unsubstantiated suspicions in Cicero and Berwyn. Critics cite evidence that young people are wrongly criminalized and denied educations.

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With policing in the spotlight, districts search for alternatives to SROs

Meg McIntyre

May 25, 2021 |

Concord Monitor |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Plymouth, Minnesota

As New Hampshire schools debate the presence of police officers stationed in schools, one model they and other states can consider is found at Minnesota Intermediate School District 287. That district lowered in-school arrests dramatically by replacing school resource officers (SROs) with student safety coaches, trained in de-escalation tactics and crisis intervention. While some staff cite safety fears now, school officials say healthier relationships form between staff and students when help, not law enforcement, is the response to problems.

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There's a detective at the door; she wants to say 'sorry'

Caitlin Schmidt

May 22, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Using a federal grant to reopen unsolved sexual assault cases, Tucson police and prosecutors have provided hundreds of victims with something they were denied when they first reported being attacked: a clear sense that authorities take their cases seriously. Dozens of possible serial rapists were identified when DNA testing was finally performed, and several suspects were prosecuted. When notifying victims their long-ago cases were getting a second look, detectives and victim advocates start with an apology for neglecting or mishandling the cases in the past.

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Philly mothers of gun violence victims work to solve their children's murders

Jo Piazza

May 20, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia police fail to solve most of the city's growing number of homicides, in part because of the no-snitching street code, a byproduct of the community's lack of trust in police. But the streets do sometimes talk when the mothers of murder victims do their own detective work. A number of cases were solved because mothers turned their grief into a resolve to hunt down evidence that they turned over to the police. Their work grows out of the many support groups they have formed to help each other, and from a YouTube channel that helps them draw attention to unsolved murders.

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The other SNL: New York City's athletic approach to curbing rising gun violence

Talib Visram

May 20, 2021 |

FastCompany |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Saturday Night Lights is run by the DA’s office and aims to reduce gun violence by providing organized sports for school-aged kids on weekend nights, when crime often goes up. Active in 20 locations across the city, SNL has served over 20,000 kids in 10 years. Partners must open on Saturday nights, for at least 46 weeks per year, and provide high quality coaching. There is no formal sign-up process or eligibility requirements apart from age and participants can join on any given night. As a response to surging crime rates in 2020, the mayor’s office has committed $5 million a year to expand to 100 locations.

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How Alameda County addresses mental-health crisis response

Stephen Baxter

May 20, 2021 |

Santa Cruz Local |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Alameda and Santa Cruz counties have fielded their own mobile teams to respond to mental health crises as alternatives to police-only responses. Aimed at reducing conflicts with police, overuse of hospitals and jails, and involuntarily commitments for short-term emergency mental health care, the services' limited hours and resources mean that the police still handle the majority of such calls. Alameda's pilot, begun in July 2020, is able to provide help to about one-third of the four dozen monthly calls it gets. Santa Cruz's volume is higher. Impacts on involuntary commitments unclear.

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Baltimore's top cop in demand as cities seek consent decree advice; some locally criticize cost, pace of reform here

Jessica Anderson

May 20, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

The Baltimore Police Department was the last agency to enter into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice during the Trump administration. This is a process by which a troubled police department submits to federal oversight as a way to reform its practices and culture. Now that the Biden administration has signaled a willingness to use this tool more, police are looking to Baltimore as a model. A federal monitor cites multiple signs of progress in Baltimore. But local activists are frustrated with the slow pace of change and high costs of federal monitoring.

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The FBI is supposed to track how police use force – years later, it's falling well short

Aaron Miguel Cantú

May 17, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Five years after the FBI started tracking how often police use force, the majority of police departments still fail to comply and the FBI refuses to release publicly what information it has collected. The policy was enacted in response to the realization that no one had definitive data on how often the police kill people, use teargas, or other incidents of force. What little data exists showed racial disparities in whom police use force against. But compliance was made voluntary and the FBI made public release of the data contingent on 80% of police departments complying, a goal it's nowhere near.

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Possibilities of Progress: Integrating Crisis Care Infrastructure into the Philadelphia Police Force and the United States

Nana AmaAddo

May 15, 2021 |

FunTimes Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

To increase the safety of people in mental health crisis, Philadelphia police train most officers in crisis intervention tactics and try to build better-informed responses into 911 operations. But problems persist. In the U.K., similar challenges – also disproportionately affecting Black people – have been addressed with a nationwide Crisis Team UK program. Calls for help can be answered by teams integrating multiple talents, from psychiatry to social work. Though progress has not been uniform nationwide, satisfaction and safety have improved, according to activists and a small survey.

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Police banned from participating in NYC Pride events and march through 2025

Meredith Deliso

May 15, 2021 |

ABC News (American Broadcasting Company) |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

NYC Pride, which commemorates a LGBTQ+ uprising against police harassment and brutality, banned police participation in its events. About 200 NYPD members from the Gay Officers Action League typically participate in the pride march. However, since police presence for some LGBTQ+ people, including people of color and trans people, causes fears of violence rather than security, private companies will provide first response and security and volunteers will be trained in de-escalation tactics. The NYPD will be at least a block away and only intervene if necessary. The policy will be reviewed again in 2025.

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