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This is how the Police Advisory Commission should work in Philadelphia

Charles D. Ellison

June 10, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Truly independent citizen review boards can serve as an effective check on police misconduct if they are structured properly, but too many cities are like Philadelphia, where a lack of power and resources means they serve mainly as window dressing. The history of the Philadelphia Police Advisory Commission shows how initial efforts by community groups to establish real oversight fizzled through political gamesmanship and limits on the panel’s power to investigate and discipline. More promising models exist in Phoenix, Denver, and St. Louis.

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This city disbanded its police department 7 years ago. Here's what happened next

Scottie Andrew

June 09, 2020 |

CNN |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Camden, New Jersey

Camden, New Jersey, is far smaller and more racially diverse than Minneapolis, but its decision to dissolve and reconstitute its police department may be the most apt case study if the larger city follows through on plans to reboot its policing. Camden decided in 2012 its department was beyond fixing, and its crime too severe to accept the status quo. A new countywide force has embraced community-oriented policing, de-escalation tactics, and limits on the use of force. Violence has dropped by nearly half and public support is up, although Camden's continuing problems also serve as a warning for Minneapolis.

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Training Police to Step In and Prevent Another George Floyd

Matt Vasilogambros

June 05, 2020 |

Stateline |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

While most police-reform ideas focus on top-down imposition of standards, peer intervention puts the burden on individual police officers to prevent misconduct. Grounded in studies of bystanders’ behavior in the face of abuses by others, the method first was adopted by the New Orleans Police Department in light of widespread misconduct following Hurricane Katrina and has been credited with that department’s “remarkable progress” in shifting its culture. Now its use is spreading nationwide.

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Diversion program thrives on cooperation, embraces skeptics

Ryan Lowery

June 04, 2020 |

Las Vegas Optic |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Alamosa, Colorado

The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program in Alamosa, Colorado, gives police officers the option of sending people to substance abuse treatment rather than straight into the criminal justice system. Used in non-violent cases, the diversion program is based on a harm-reduction model that uses a health-care approach rather than a punitive approach to address the underlying issues when a crime is committed. Some police officers object to the program's mission, but proponents say that forcing compliance would be counterproductive.

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I Cover Cops as an Investigative Reporter. Here Are Five Ways You Can Start Holding Your Department Accountable.

Andrew Ford

June 04, 2020 |

ProPublica |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Jersey

Citizen watchdogs can hold local police accountable by using the tactics of investigative reporters that have successfully exposed systemic problems and sparked reforms. One reporter shares five approaches he’s used to hold up policies and practices to scrutiny, some of which led to positive change. He provides a how-to on learning the existing policies, obtaining public records, engaging influencers in honest dialog, presenting verified evidence in a fair format, and seeking allies to pressure for reform.

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Philly police should adopt this ethics program that reformed NOLA force

Larry Platt

June 04, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

Eight years after the New Orleans Police Department served as a model of how not to police, its Ethical Policing Is Courageous (EPIC) program has done more to dismantle the “blue wall of silence” than any other reforms. Citizen complaints and horrific examples of brutality have gone down while citizen satisfaction has risen. Now the training of officers in “peer intervention” is spreading nationwide, empowering street officers schooled in the use of peer pressure to stand up to misconduct without fear of retaliation.

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The City That Remade Its Police Department

Sarah Holder

June 04, 2020 |

Bloomberg Businessweek |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Camden, New Jersey

Since Camden began addressing its high homicide rate in 2012 with closer collaboration with the community and stricter rules on the use of force, both murders and complaints about police have fallen dramatically. As part of what is considered some of the most extensive police reforms in the country, the city put more police on the streets. That had both good outcomes (interactions outside of crises) and bad (a troubling increase in low-level arrests). But, when many cities’ police-brutality protests in 2020 turned violent, Camden’s did not.

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How a City Once Consumed by Civil Unrest Has Kept Protests Peaceful

Tracey Tully Kevin Armstrong

June 01, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

Through a combination of protesters’ vigilance, mayoral leadership, anti-violence interventions, and de-escalation by police, Newark managed to avoid the violence that marred other cities’ responses in the initial burst of protest after the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd. Newark has worked in recent years to reduce street violence using trained mediators. That team, aided by a resolve among protesters to prevent widespread looting and vandalism, helped prevent all but minor problems and arrests in the first volatile weekend of protests.

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NM jail populations plummet amid joint efforts to avoid COVID-19 outbreak; positive test rates are low

Jeff Proctor

June 01, 2020 |

New Mexico In Depth |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Mexico

New Mexico criminal justice officials joined forces to lower local jail populations by one-third in just 11 weeks, a rushed COVID-19 response that not only seems to have prevented widespread illness but also led law enforcement officials to question whether they need to lock up so many people in the future. Prosecutors, police, and county jails arrested fewer people, released low-risk inmates, and suspended “warrant sweeps” and jailing people for technical probation and parole violations. With 27 jails less than half-full, a top prosecutor acknowledged the virus response may turn into standard practice.

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Why So Many Police Are Handling the Protests Wrong

Jamiles Lartey Maggie Koerth

June 01, 2020 |

The Marshall Project |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Half a century of research showing the dynamics of how protesters and police interact under pressure teaches that when police respond with escalating force, it doesn’t work. But police continue to lean on such tactics out of instinct and culture, even in the face of strong evidence that they often instigate the very riots they ostensibly seek to prevent. Defusing tension is no simple matter, and officer safety concerns are often legitimate. But much can be learned from common mistakes and from some model strategies that have been deployed successfully.

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