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Fresh Data Shows How Focused Deterrence Can Keep At-Risk Individuals from Crime

Champe Barton

November 06, 2019 |

The Trace |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

In 2013, Detroit’s law enforcement agencies started using focused deterrence – a method that uses data to identify at-risk individuals – to decrease the rate of violent crime in the city. The method, part of the national program, Ceasefire, partners police departments with social workers and other city services to deter people from criminal behavior. A new study in the journal, Crime and Delinquency, has been published that links the strategy to decreased crime rates and recidivism.

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What California can learn from Seattle about police shootings

Laurel Rosenhall

October 26, 2019 |

CalMatters |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Seattle has taken a comprehensive approach to police reform, including forming a community police commission, the development of policies on appropriate weapon use, more oversight on police force, and the creation of a specialty unit that focuses on mental health. While there has been pushback from officers, the safety of officers hasn’t been compromised and the use of force has decreased by sixty percent. With some calling it a success, California seeks to implement similar reform at the state level.

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Flock Safety Says Its License Plate Readers Reduce Crime. It's Not That Simple

Louise Matsakis

October 24, 2019 |

Wired |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Austell, Georgia

Cobb County, Georgia installed new license plate surveillance technology, loaned to them by the Atlanta-based company, Flock Safety. After installation, the test area saw a dramatic decrease in crime, to which Flock took credit for but experts say the connection could be due to a number of things. Furthermore, while surveillance technology has been correlated with decreased crime, communities have called into question issues of personal privacy versus public safety.

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A Police Department's Difficult Assignment: Atonement

Michael Friedrich

October 23, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Stockton, California

The city of Stockton police department has embarked on a number of initiatives in the hopes of building trust between them and the communities they work for. With initial funding from the Department of Justice, the department began truth-and-reconciliation processes, including workshops, departmental reforms, public apologies, and community conversations. Actual reconciliation is hard to measure, and yet their efforts to atone for their part in historic and systemic racism have shown positive results.

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In Cahoots: How the unlikely pairing of cops and hippies became a national model

Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick

October 20, 2019 |

The Register-Guard |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

Long before CAHOOTS became a national model for replacing police on some 911 calls with mobile crisis-response teams of medics and counselors, it represented an "odd marriage of police resources and counterculture philosophies." The acronym for Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets is in fact a sly reference to White Bird Clinic's hippies "in cahoots" with cops. But the police have long since made their peace with the service, which spends a tiny fraction of what it costs to run Eugene's police department while handling a large share of non-violent crises involving homelessness and mental health.

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Gun Investigators Cautiously Optimistic About New Fingerprint Technology

Ann Givens

October 11, 2019 |

The Trace |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: England, Loughborough

A collaboration between England’s Loughborough University, the UK’s Ministry of Defence, and a company called Foster + Freeman has led to a new technology that can pull fingerprints from shell casings. What was once a nearly impossible task, is showing promise, as police departments across the United States try out the new technology. That said, there are still some questions about its efficacy and ability to stand up as evidence in court.

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IMPD used to fatally shoot more people than NYC or Chicago. Here's what changed.

Casey Smith Ryan Martin

September 18, 2019 |

IndyStar (The Indianapolis Star) |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Indianapolis, Indiana

Under new leadership, Indianapolis has seen a drastic decline in fatal police shootings. While the new police chief, Bryan Roach, shares credit with his entire force, many credit his new policies for the decline. Initiatives like addressing behavioral health, implicit bias training, and mental health crisis training are just some of the changes being made. While much progress has been made, there is still a ways to go when it comes to rebuilding trust within the community.

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This Man Says His Anti-violence Plan Would Save 12,000 Lives

Mark Obbie

September 11, 2019 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Buffalo, New York

With support for a New York-based grant program, Buffalo has been trying various evidence-based approaches to decrease violence, especially gun violence, in the city. The grant program, Gun Involved Violence Elimination, or GIVE, provides funding for police departments to adopt strategies like hot-spot policing, deterring those most at-risk, or street outreach to break the cycle of violence. While such strategies are linked to success, the process of implementing them, gaining support and trust from the community, and waiting for long-term change has proven challenging.

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KCPD uses new strategy for predicting, fighting crime

Nathan Vickers

August 23, 2019 |

KCTV-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Using a method of targeting trouble-prone locations called "risk terrain modeling," Kansas City police saw double-digit declines in crime in the targeted areas. The method uses crime data to show where crime flourishes. Then police, working with community members, determine what about that location could change to reduce risk, such as improving street lighting or moving a bus stop that acts as a magnet for trouble. The program suggests that focusing on places, not just people, can prevent crime rather than just reacting after the fact with arrests, although the results are only preliminary.

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‘Our youngest we lost was nine.' Austin ISD police home in on mental health

Chris Nelson Tom Miller

August 18, 2019 |

KXAN-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Austin, Texas

The Austin school district credits its crisis intervention police officers, trained in deescalation in mental health emergencies, with contributing to a level of care that defused a student-suicide crisis. Six students ended their lives in the 2017-18 school year, while none did the following year. Teaming up with counselors, the police deal both with parents and students in seeking better mental health care for them rather than turning crises into arrests and punishment. On the dozens of campuses where such care has been emphasized, even test scores are up.

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