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Human remains found at Multnomah Falls identified after 42 years

Samantha Swindler

February 15, 2021 |

The Oregonian |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oregon

Oregon law enforcement agencies partnered with a Virginia laboratory, Parabon NanoLabs, to use genetic genealogy to learn the identities of people whose remains were found long ago but never identified. To give peace of mind to families who never knew for sure of their loved ones' deaths, researchers use DNA samples taken from the human remains to compare to publicly available DNA profiles shared by people using home DNA tests. This can identify a victim's family tree. So far, Parabon has identified six of the 10 people it has tested for Oregon. The state has more than 150 unidentified skeletal remains.

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Hawaii Homeless Program Failed After Prosecutors And Police Wouldn't Play Ball

Christina Jedra

February 11, 2021 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Honolulu, Hawaii

LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) proved itself in Seattle as effective at addressing the underlying problems of people experiencing homelessness, by waiving their criminal charges if they accepted needed services. But the program's two-year test in Honolulu failed to gain traction because only some police bought into it, and the prosecutor's office never did. Instead of using criminal citations as leverage, the program was stripped down to an ordinary outreach effort, and managed to enroll only 50 people, not all of whom were helped. A new prosecutor and the police will make another go of it.

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Denver successfully sent mental health professionals, not police, to hundreds of calls

Grace Hauck

February 06, 2021 |

USA Today |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

In its first six months, Denver's STAR program (Support Team Assistance Response) handled 748 emergency calls that in the past would have gone to the police or firefighters. Two-person teams of a medic and clinician helped people with personal crises related mainly to homelessness and mental illness. None of the calls required police involvement and no one was arrested. The city plans to spend more to expand the program, which is meant to prevent needless violence and incarceration from calls to the police that other types of first-responders can better address.

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Health care workers replaced Denver cops in handling hundreds of mental health and substance abuse cases — and officials say it saved lives

Li Cohen

February 06, 2021 |

CBS News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Denver's STAR program (Support Team Assisted Response) replaced police officers with health professionals on 748 calls for help. In incidents involving mental health, homelessness, and substance abuse, police backup was never needed, no one was arrested, and minor crises did not risk escalating into violence because of police presence. The six-month pilot project will expand to more parts of the city and more hours of the week, with an infusion of city money to supplement the private funding that got the program started.

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Inside the L.A.P.D.'s Experiment in Trust-Based Policing

Michaela Haas

February 05, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

The Community Safety Partnership Bureau of the Los Angeles Police Department has worked for a decade in 10 neighborhoods to prevent crime through building trust among residents, rather than through the LAPD's costly and troubled war on gangs. One study found that through long-term involvement in neighborhood life, with highly trained officers working closely with community organizers, CSP had helped increase public trust, save public money, and lower violent crime.

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Minneapolis Is Funding Artists' Community Healing Projects With Police Dollars

Emily Nonko

February 03, 2021 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Through its Creative CityMaking program, the city of Minneapolis pays artists to use their skills to promote healing and community-building in projects they design on their own. The program had existed for seven years when the George Floyd case roiled Minneapolis. The city council carved $150,000 out of the police budget to add to its artist-led community healing work. One of the 10 most recent grantees, Rising From the Ashes, produced a series of online gatherings for local queer artists and artists of color, concluding with an online exhibit of art made during the 2020 uprising.

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In the first six months of health care professionals replacing police officers, no one they encountered was arrested

David Sachs

February 02, 2021 |

Denverite |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Denver's STAR (Support Team Assisted Response) program deliberately reduces potentially violent encounters between uniformed police officers and troubled people by responding to certain low-level crises with a mental health clinician and a medic. In STAR's first six months, the team offered 748 people help rather than jail, without requiring any arrests to resolve problems. With more resources, the team could have handled more than 2,500 incidents. The police chief supports the program's expansion, saying it frees his officers to handle more serious matters.

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How reform gave way to ‘Defund the Police' in Seattle

David Kroman Sara Bernard

January 28, 2021 |

Crosscut |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Seattle spent nearly a decade reforming its police department and branding itself as an example of how to fix a broken system prone to violence and racial bias. Public trust improved and the use of force declined. But the protests of 2020 changed perspectives in Seattle so much that now it is a leader in taking money from the police to fund community-based responses to social problems and low-level crime. The community is divided, largely along racial and ideological lines, over whether to "defund" the police, whether police reform is even possible, and how to reimagine public safety.

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An Oregon city's decades-old alternative to police

David Kroman Sara Bernard

January 28, 2021 |

Crosscut |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

Like many cities, Seattle is looking to Eugene, Oregon, for a model to shift resources from police to unarmed crisis responders handling 911 calls about mental health, addiction, family conflict, and other non-criminal problems. Eugene's CAHOOTS program has been doing such work for half a century, and since 1989 sending medic-and-counselor teams on calls. In 2019 it saved $8 million in police costs and $14 million for ambulances and emergency room visits. But, while taking police out of situations where they might cause more problems than they solve, it's only as good as its region's social services.

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Cops, crisis calls and conflict over who should help

David Kroman Sara Bernard

January 28, 2021 |

Crosscut |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Seattle Police Department's crisis response team answers some of the city's many 911 calls for people in distress, pairing police trained in handling such calls with mental health professionals. The aim is to counter the default policing approach to problems that usually involve mental illness or substance abuse, which is to control people. It doesn't always work, due to the complexity of the calls, the nature of policing, and the department's limited resources devoted to the program. But, when it works, it can help rather than escalate situations, and avoid the ultimate failure, the use of excessive force.

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