These groups try to hack the vote – so that real criminals can't

Christa Case Bryant

October 21, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Cyber security simulations are taking place across the country to help everyone, from government officials to journalists, to identify election-related cyber threats and coordinated disinformation campaigns and make plans to strengthen defenses against them. One company, Cybereason, holds simulation events, sometimes bringing together law enforcement officers from agencies including the Secret Service and FBI, to think through potential security threats and come up with corresponding solutions. Running through security breach simulations helps plan for a quick response to deal with the challenges.

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Unlike Vermont, New Hampshire state police don't collect racial data for arrests

Alyssa Dandrea

October 18, 2020 |

Concord Monitor |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Hampshire

New Hampshire's official response to nationwide protests of racial bias in policing lacks a critical element: a statewide database showing the race of drivers and passengers in police stops and arrests. Unlike neighboring Vermont, which since 2014 has kept a data-informed eye on racial disparities in policing, New Hampshire officials say they cannot afford to integrate such data from local agencies. Instead, those local agencies are now under a legislative mandate to report what they track to their communities. Advocates say statewide analysis would better inform police training and policies.

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This police officer has made it her mission to end domestic violence

Kate Snow

October 14, 2020 |

NBC News |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Thibodaux, Louisiana

In southern Louisiana's Lafourche Parish, sheriff's deputy Valerie Martinez Jordan used her history as a domestic violence victim to create a countywide program to legally seize the guns of people convicted of domestic violence or whose gun rights are suspended under a protective order. The program, since expanded statewide by legislation she inspired, took more than 200 guns out of circulation in her parish alone since last year and is credited with preventing any domestic homicides by people disarmed through her program's efforts.

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Kalamazoo police look to violence intervention program and community partnerships to halt shootings

Al Jones

October 13, 2020 |

Second Wave Michigan |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kalamazoo, Michigan

In their Group Violence Intervention program, Kalamazoo police use "custom notifications" to intervene before street violence erupts. Working in tandem with community groups, the police tell likely shooters that more violence will get them arrested and imprisoned, but stopping now will be rewarded with job help and other services. Progress is slow. It gets measured one by one as young men get jobs and stay out of trouble. The pandemic disrupted the program, followed by a surge in violence. Community members praise the approach as an alternative to overly aggressive policing, but want more services programs.

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As Trump Blames 'The Chinese Virus,' These Asian American Women Won't Stand For The Racism

Josie Huang

October 08, 2020 |

LAist |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Responding to growing attacks on Asian Americans, based on racist reactions to the pandemic, one young woman self-published a handbook, "How to Report a Hate Crime," in multiple languages. Though limited funding kept its print run small, the booklet found an audience through social media. Then its author connected with the victim of a verbal assault, inspired her to push back against police department apathy, and sparked a number of new hate-crime reports and better training for Los Angeles police officers.

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Pro-gun localities accounted for nearly half of Virginia's red flag orders in law's first months

Graham Moomaw

October 06, 2020 |

Virginia Mercury |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Virginia

Strong local opposition to Virginia's new red-flag law and other gun-control measures did not dissuade some local law enforcement agencies from using the law for its intended purpose: to temporarily confiscate the guns of people deemed a threat to themselves or others. In the law's first two months, roughly half of 21 red flag cases filed were in counties and cities that passed resolutions opposing the passage and enforcement of the law. In Virginia Beach, a self-proclaimed Second Amendment Constitutional City, police made multiple uses of the tool, as state legislators had hoped when they enacted it.

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Training police to patrol each other

Daniel Gordon

October 06, 2020 |

BBC |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

In the wake of George Floyd's killing by police in Minneapolis, where several officers failed to prevent one officer's actions, New Orleans police have been besieged by requests from police nationwide to export their method of training officers to intervene to prevent misconduct by fellow officers. New Orleans' reputation for police brutality and corruption has improved, in part because of its "active bystander" training. Complaints are down and public support is up. Now its internal EPIC training course is available free to other departments as ABLE: Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement.

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Ervin Staub: A Holocaust survivor's mission to train ‘heroic bystanders'

Daniel Gordon Joshua Nevett

October 05, 2020 |

BBC |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

By training police officers to intervene when fellow officers engage in brutality or other misconduct, the New Orleans police department has reduced officers' use of force and increased public trust. After the killing of George Floyd by a police officer whose colleagues did not intervene, the ethical-policing model called EPIC (Ethical Policing Is Courageous) is expanding to dozens more cities as ABLE (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement). It is based on the violence-psychology research of Ervin Staub, whose family was saved by "active bystanders" in Nazi Hungary.

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Decoy turtle eggs put in nests to track illegal trade in Costa Rica

Patrick Barkham

October 05, 2020 |

The Guardian |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Costa Rica

The conservation organization Paso Pacifico "InvestEggator" program uses a set of fake sea turtle eggs to track the illegal trade of the eggs after they are snatched from nests on Costa Rica beaches. Satellite tags in the decoy eggs were tracked to mostly local sites where the eggs were then sold. This intelligence will help conservationists target trafficking enforcement and deterrence campaigns geographically. The illegal trade in green and olive ridley turtle eggs is a threat to the turtle populations, but previous enforcement aimed at those who poached the nests did little to solve the problem.

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How to Bring Care to Mental Health Emergencies

Whitney Bryen Quinton Chandler

October 04, 2020 |

Oklahoma Watch |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oklahoma

Oklahoma mental health and police agencies supply free tablets to police departments, enabling officers summoned to a mental health crisis to connect on the spot with a licensed mental health professional. The telehealth solution has virtually eliminated forced hospitalizations in Claremore, where officers use the tablets on multiple 911 calls daily. The tablet program, also used in Oklahoma City, serves as a temporary fix while state officials debate more permanent ways to limit potentially violent and unhelpful interactions between mentally ill people and police with little training in their care.

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