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The Empathetic Police Academy

Howard Schultz Rajiv Chandrasekaran

October 04, 2016 |

Starbucks Channel |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Burlen, Washington

Susan Rahr, a former sheriff, didn’t agree with the “boot camp atmosphere” of police academies. She also didn’t agree with the tough vigilante, us vs them attitude she observed from her fellow officers, and in school. So, when she became director of the Criminal Justice Training Center she changed the curriculum. The program has become a “national model of how law enforcement officers can be more empathetic to and respectful of the communities they serve without diminishing their own safety.”

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New research shows there's one big change when cops wear cameras

Cassie Werber

September 29, 2016 |

Quartz |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, London

Cameras worn on police uniforms have been lauded as a possible solution to many of the problems facing officers in the line of duty, from violence against law enforcement to the unnecessary use of force. The US Department of Justice recently announced a plan to spend $20 million on body cameras for cops in 32 states. The cameras are controversial, as all surveillance...

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Oregon Detective Pioneers New Sexual Assault Reporting Program

Avery Lill

September 22, 2016 |

NPR |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Ashland, Oregon

In Ashland, Oregon, the police department has launched a program that better serves sexual assault survivors by putting them at the center. The program, called You Have Options, considers the challenges that survivors face and works to help them through the reporting process, including letting them report anonymously. In its first year, You Have Options saw a 106% increase in sexual assault reporting and departments across the United States are now seeking to implement it.

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Abolish the police? Organizers say it's less crazy than it sounds.

Maya Dukmasova

August 25, 2016 |

The Chicago Reader |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Police abolitionism, an idea that strikes many as fanciful and dangerous, lies at the root of many community projects in Chicago that have demonstrated on a small scale the ways that problems can be solved without police involvement. Run by acolytes of Mariame Kaba, these projects provided dispute resolution services, mental health responses, and a bond fund that uses donated money to bail pretrial defendants out of jail. The key idea is to demonstrate ways to scale back police powers, rather than wait for institutions to reform themselves.

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Inside Black Guns Matter, Philly's Second Amendment answer to police brutality

Cassie Owens

August 21, 2016 |

Billy Penn |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In Philadelphia, Black Guns Matter encourages Black Americans to practice the second amendment right to own a gun, while at the simultaneously discouraging altercations with the police. This group provides resources to inform Black Americans how to protect themselves from the police or other individuals should they need to. They also mitigate tragic outcomes by preparing Black Americans for confrontations with cops.

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Beyond Detention: Exploring Smarter, Cheaper Alternatives to Locking Kids Up

Arielle Dreher

August 17, 2016 |

Jackson Free Press |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jackson, Mississippi

Alternative programming that involves "restorative justice" models - such as having youth within the criminal justice system create art as a means of self expression instead of detaining them in a prison-like facility - are much more effective at preventing antisocial and criminal behavior in youth than involvement in the juvenile-justice system.

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Tapping a Troubled Neighborhood's Inner Strength

David Bornstein

August 10, 2016 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Longview, Washington

HIghlands area in Southern Washington has been an impoverished and unsafe neighbourhood, however, circumstances have been improve as neighbours have begun to get to know eachother and form a community. HIghlands neighbourhood association and the Family Policy council are two initiatives that have strengthened community ties, lead to leadership opportunities, facilitated citizen-police interactions, and helped children not fall into a poverty cycle.

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How a police chief used compassion to combat his community's drug problem

Leah Todd Lin

August 08, 2016 |

High Country News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Gloucester, Massachusetts

Rather than put addicts in jail, a police station in Gloucester, Massachusetts helps get those in need into treatment centers. Now, communities all over the country, including the town of Española, New Mexico, treat addiction with empathy and urgency rather than jail time. The change in treatment has reduced drug-related crime as well as deaths from overdose.

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Barriers to Reforming Police Practices

Tina Rosenberg

August 02, 2016 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

With the police killings of Freddie Gray, Laquan McDonald, and other black lives across the country, the problem remains how to reform police departments and reduce excessive force on unarmed men and women. Procedural justice is a strategy that centers on legitimizing the law for at-risk communities by building trust, so that the environment of policing changes to one of respect and less crime results. Procedural justice has begun to be implemented across U.S. police departments with some measurable successes, although police accountability remains important and should be an extension of the strategy.

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A Strategy to Build Police-Citizen Trust

Tina Rosenberg

July 26, 2016 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Stockton, California

The increase of violence between the police and Black communities across the country requires a reconstruction of the relationship that addresses empathy, trust, and crime reduction. The Department of Justice has developed test programs in different cities that train police officers in procedural justice. The early results of this program in Stockton, CA show that communities and police have built trust and law legitimacy, while the crime rate has not increased.

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