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Social Workers Instead of Police? Denver's 911 Experiment Is a Promising Start

Alissa Walker

March 10, 2021 |

Curbed New York |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Four years after pairing social workers with police officers on certain nonemergency calls, Denver's STAR program began dispatching a mental-health clinician and paramedic as sole first responders when health and social services are needed rather than arrests, jail, and the risk of police violence. The program in its first six months, though limited by geography and hours, handled 748 calls without any police involvement. Police, in fact, are relaying many of the calls that STAR takes. STAR teaches other large cities useful lessons, but it's only as good as the local mental-health infrastructure.

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Seattle Is Using Psychology to Help People Avoid City Fines and Fees

Cinnamon Janzer

March 10, 2021 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

By redesigning the notices it mails to people who owe the city money for pet licenses or traffic and parking fines, Seattle's Innovation and Performance project greatly improved payment rates. The effort, based on behavioral economics concepts making payment seem easier and more in tune with social norms, has pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars more into city coffers while sparing residents the hassles and greater costs of not paying fees and fines when they're due.

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The radical idea to reduce crime by policing less, not more

Josh Jacobs

March 10, 2021 |

Wired |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: England, Durham

Using the tools of medical research can help transform policing from an arbitrary and often-damaging practice ruled by gut instinct into a carefully calibrated approach to reducing crime without causing so much collateral damage. In one of dozens of randomized controlled trials, researchers discovered how much more effective it is to provide counseling and other non-punitive treatments to people charged with lower-level crimes and considered at moderate risk of committing more of the same. Knowing what actually works can make policing more effective while reducing its footprint.

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Human trafficking operations surrounding the Super Bowl result in dozens of arrests for prostitution

Kylie McGivern

March 04, 2021 |

WFTS-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Tampa, Florida

Law enforcement and a private organization, Rahab's Daughters, attacked human sex trafficking at the 2021 Super Bowl in Tampa by tracing leads from tens of thousands of advertisements for sexual services. While the private group says it provided housing, food, and clothing to 40 women, and the police said they identified six trafficking victims and connected them with needed protection and services, far more women were arrested on prostitution charges, along with a handful of men on trafficking charges. Critics say the harm from those arrests can overshadow the benefits from looking for actual victims.

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Here's What Happens When Social Workers, Not Police, Respond To Mental Health Crises

Christina Jedra

March 01, 2021 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

Honolulu could benefit from adopting the approach to mental-health crisis calls to 911 that Eugene, Oregon, uses. But it would need to make big changes first in its critical infrastructure. Eugene's CAHOOTS program sends counselors and medics on 17% of the calls coming to its city's 911 center, saving millions on police, ambulances, and emergency room visits. Non-police responders de-escalate potential conflicts and get people the help they need without arrest or violence. Honolulu is primed to examine this approach, as many cities have done, but it's not a simple matter to start it.

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43 Cases, No Convictions: Prosecuting the Police Falters in New York

Jonah Engel Bromwich Sarah Maslin Nir Benjamin Weiser

February 26, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

In the more than five years since New York's governor ordered the attorney general to take charge of investigations and prosecutions when police kill unarmed people, only three police officers have been charged with crimes and none has been convicted. By taking control of such cases away from local prosecutors, officials hoped to instill greater trust in outcomes, because of the close ties local prosecutors have with local police. But the narrow scope of the rule establishing the special prosecutions unit, plus a host of other systemic and legal barriers, have meant that the outcomes have not changed.

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How new technology is helping to identify human rights abuses in the seafood industry

Virginia Gewin

February 25, 2021 |

The Counter |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ghana

A growing number of governments, companies, and nonprofit organizations are working together with new technology and data to identify fishing vessels that are breaking laws and engaging in human rights violations. Using satellite imagery and tracking signals, for example, a philanthropic company and a nonprofit worked with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to help the Ghanian navy arrest four vessels for illegal fishing practices. Technology by itself won’t stop forced labor and unregulated ships, but it can be helpful for cash-strapped governments looking to increase oversight of their fisheries.

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How does Portland's Street Response Team compare with a similar program in Denver?

Dan Haggerty

February 24, 2021 |

KGW-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Although Eugene, Oregon's long-running, successful CAHOOTS program serves as one model for the new Portland Street Response, a more relevant model can be found in Denver's STAR program. Like CAHOOTS, STAR responds to mental-health and other crisis calls with medics and counselors rather than police officers. But Denver's size, demographics, and homelessness make it much more analogous to Portland. In STAR's first six months, it handled nearly 750 calls without a single arrest. Both STAR and PSR are starting small, so more resources are needed if the pilot projects succeed.

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How Food Changed the Course of the #EndSARS Protests in Nigeria

Zainab Onuh-Yahaya

February 23, 2021 |

Life & Thyme |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

During Nigerians' protests against the brutality of the Nigerian Police Force's Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a single tweet for donations to feed protesters grew into a movement that sustained the protests both physically and emotionally, while also giving supporters a way to connect to the protests. As the food network grew more elaborate, it inspired Project F.E.E.D: Lagos, a network of soup kitchens that extended beyond the government's brutal crackdown on the EndSARS protests. “In a country characterized by a lot of lack, food became the one thing that was abundant during these protests."

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Gun violence crisis: With revenge & retaliation on the rise, how police are responding

Kimberly King

February 17, 2021 |

WLOS-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Buffalo, New York

Asheville, North Carolina, police hope to model a violence-intervention program on one in Buffalo, New York, in which police use "custom notifications" to identify people prone to violence. Those notified are given a choice between arrest or assistance in redirecting their lives, with help from social services providers. Buffalo's program is credited with a 24% decline in gun violence in 2019, before the pandemic put it on hold and shootings rose again.

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