In a Pennsylvania town, a Facebook group fills the local news void

Brandy Zadrozny

April 05, 2021 |

NBC News |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chippewa Township, Pennsylvania

In areas with no newspapers, locals are increasingly turning to Facebook groups to share resources and information about local happenings, particularly crime. Many of The News Alerts of Beaver County's 43,000 members praise the benefits of the group, in which members can post and comment on local news, including everything from infrastructure and businesses to lost dogs and suspected criminals on the loose. However, critics claim it is a hub for misinformation and vigilantism. The group is moderated, but the misinformation, which is shared in good faith by neighbors, is hard to spot without training.

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There's a new approach to police response to mental health emergencies. Taking the police out of it

Chris James

April 02, 2021 |

CNN |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

San Francisco's Street Crisis Response Team replaces or aids police officers in responding to calls about people in nonviolent behavioral health crises. A collaboration of the city's fire and health departments, the program puts three-person teams – social workers, paramedics, and peer counselors – on patrol to respond to calls or to look for people in crisis. The $4 million pilot project has taken 800 calls in its first four months, connecting people to the care they need without the violence that can occur when police are first responders. The city hopes to expand its hours to 24/7 soon.

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The invisible shield: how qualified immunity was created and nearly destroyed the ability to sue police officers in America Pt. I

Herb Boyd Damaso Reyes

April 01, 2021 |

New York Amsterdam News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The Civil Rights Act of 1871, as a direct response to white resistance to Reconstruction-era reforms in the former Confederacy, gave people the right to sue government officials for depriving them of their civil rights. But a series of court decisions from the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s through the 1980s undercut the law's intent, so much so that police officers ended up with "qualified immunity" from liability for rights violations – effectively avoiding accountability, even when they act in bad faith.

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Police are often first responders to mental health crises, but tragedies are prompting change

Julianne Hill

April 01, 2021 |

ABA Journal |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

Chicago's debate over which responses to mental health crises will avoid needless police shootings and other tragedies led city council members to the CAHOOTS model. The Eugene, Ore., program sends two unarmed first responders to provide links to needed services without bringing people to jail or a hospital. This diverts about 20% of 911 calls away from police, saving the city millions and improving outcomes for people in need. A much larger city has different needs. Chicago police have crisis intervention team training. A small co-responder team of mental health professionals will be added at first.

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'Virtual rangers' help South African reserve keep poachers away

Akhona Matshoba Tanisha Heiberg

March 29, 2021 |

Reuters |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: South Africa, Johannesburg

Over 55,000 people have become “virtual rangers,” helping to protect South Africa’s Balule Nature Reserve from poachers. Officials at the reserve teamed up with Samsung and Africam to increase the ability to keep watch over the park, which is home to some of the most vulnerable animals to poaching, including rhinoceros, leopards, and elephants. Camera phones, held in protective cases, are mounted around the reserve and stream images to “virtual rangers” worldwide who have already reported hearing gunshots, which could indicate the possibility of poachers, and seeing trapped animals needing rescue.

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After crime plummeted in 2020, Baltimore will stop drug, sex prosecutions

Tom Jackman

March 26, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

When Baltimore prosecutors stopped prosecuting most lower-level crimes to ease jail crowding during the pandemic, they discovered that making many fewer arrests did not fuel a crime wave. In fact, crime dropped substantially, counter to what most other cities experienced during the same time. The experiment showed that not prosecuting for drug possession, prostitution, trespassing, and other minor offenses has minimal, if not positive, effects on crime. The policy was made permanent and officials will now connect people with needed health and social services instead of jailing them.

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How a Colorado town is untangling behavioral health care from the criminal justice system

Sady Swanson

March 22, 2021 |

Coloradoan |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Fort Collins, Colorado

Acting on a recognition that police and the criminal justice system are too involved in responses to mental health and substance abuse crises, UCHealth formed mental health response teams that partner with Fort Collins police on such calls. In about 80% of calls the teams handled, no arrests were made while people received treatment or were referred to needed services. This program plus one that diverts certain criminal cases into treatment, which can result in dismissal of charges, have built-in drawbacks but have begun de-emphasizing criminal-justice remedies when people need other help.

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Taking cops out of traffic stops: Would it make a difference? North Carolina examples offer a clue

Ahmed Jallow

March 22, 2021 |

Burlington Times News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Fayetteville, North Carolina

For four years, Fayetteville, N.C., police virtually banned their officers from making traffic stops for petty violations having nothing to do with traffic safety, but increased their enforcement of speeding, red-light, and drunken driving violations. During that time, traffic fatalities decreased. So did the use of force by police, complaints about the police, and injuries to drivers and police. About half as many Black drivers' cars were searched. Unnecessary traffic stops can strain police-community relations and show bias against non-white drivers.

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Real-time monitoring of 911 calls: A new tool for cops

Jim Dudley

March 19, 2021 |

Police1 |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Chula Vista, California

The Chula Vista Police Department uses the Live911 system to live-stream 911 calls to police officers on patrol. The system enables quicker responses to emergencies and reduces the risk of unnecessary confrontations between people in crises and cops who lack critical information because it was filtered through a dispatcher. Despite fears that hearing panicked callers would increase police officers' agitation en route to a call, the system has had the opposite effect by communicating nuances and details that assure officers the emergency is less dangerous than originally assumed.

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‘Meeting people where they're at': How mobile crisis-response teams work

Charnel Anderson

March 15, 2021 |

TVO |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Thunder Bay police formed IMPACT (Integrated Mobile Police Assessment Crisis Team), pairing crisis responders with mental health expertise with police officers to respond 24/7 to people experiencing mental health crises. Instead of defaulting to police responses, which risk the use of force and often land people in custody or a hospital, the teams often are able to get people connected to needed social and health services. So far the team has managed to divert about 40 percent of calls to helping services.

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