Police reformers push for de-escalation training, but the jury is out on its effectiveness

Erin Schumaker

July 02, 2020 |

ABC News (American Broadcasting Company) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Teaching police de-escalation tactics to avoid the use of force in a crisis is a popular suggestion in the police-reform debate, but a number of structural deficits make success a great unknown. Before police departments embrace the concept, they must first realize there has been no rigorous testing of any particular training regimen for effectiveness, nor do any national standards on use of force exist. Police training and the definition of de-escalation tactics are both highly fractured, lacking common definitions based on proven effectiveness.

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Northern Ireland's police transformation may hold lessons for the US

Laura A. Weinstein Donald Beaudette

June 26, 2020 |

The Conversation |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Ireland

With lessons for American police-reform advocates, the transformation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary – a militarized enforcer of inequality hated by the people of Northern Ireland – into an entirely new organization was founded on the necessity of community support. Neither easy nor simple, this 20-year process, following 30 years of conflict, intentionally included recruiting local Catholics in order to win local support. Citizen oversight served as another pillar of the new structure, which still has problems but has won critical political support from Sinn Féin, the leading nationalist political party.

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How to Defund the Police

Alexis Okeowo

June 26, 2020 |

The New Yorker |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

On the front lines of the defund-police movement, groups like Elite Learners and Save Our Streets Bed-Stuy mediate conflicts in ways that have lowered violence without the involvement of police, thus reducing arrests and incarceration at the same time. CMS workers often use the Cure Violence approach of "violence interruption," a form of outreach by community members to offer needed social services while preventing violence. The city, which credits these programs with a 15% decline in shootings in 17 precincts in a three-year span, is expanding the budget for this to nearly $50 million per year.

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Police Training In America: How Can We Fix A Broken System?

Meghna Chakrabarti Grace Tatter

June 25, 2020 |

WBUR |

Radio |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Police training often is the suggested fix after controversial incidents of alleged brutality, but training is only one piece of a much larger set of cultural, racial, and social issues. Reforming training in de-escalation tactics on its own has not generally changed a warrior mentality that preaches dominance and hypervigilance to counter perceived resistance or threats with overwhelming force, say a journalist who covers policing and a former police officer and researcher who studies use of force policies. They examine one fatal shooting and why training failed to prevent tragedy.

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San Quentin's Breakthrough Prison Newsroom

Emily Nonko

June 25, 2020 |

Politico |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

San Quentin Prison's media created by the men incarcerated there have gone beyond rehabilitation of individuals to a broader mission of promoting criminal justice policy reform by reframing the narrative about those who have committed crimes and the system's inequities. Through San Quentin News, the podcast Ear Hustle, and a series of dialogues between incarcerated men and criminal justice officials, their stories have shed new light on prison life and those held in prison, and formed a cadre of journalists who gained experience behind bars and have become prominent advocates on the outside.

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When it comes to police oversight, many watchdogs lack teeth

Rob Kuznia Casey Tolan

June 25, 2020 |

CNN |

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Response Location: United States

The most effective civilian oversight agencies that act as watchdogs over police discipline are empowered to conduct independent investigations, impose discipline on individual officers, and influence disciplinary policy. One of the strongest, in Oakland, forced the police chief out of office over police shootings and diversity on the police force. But the lessons to be learned in this field come more often from the many examples of structural flaws that render civilian oversight powerless to counter the wishes of the police, or even to be listened to.

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9 Departments and Multiple Infractions for One New Jersey Police Officer

Rukmini Callimachi

June 24, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Woodlynne, New Jersey

New Jersey’s responses to police misconduct offer stark lessons in how certain failures can allow troubled officers to hop from job to job undetected. The state lacks a central database of police misconduct and remains one of only five states that cannot revoke an officer’s credentials because of performance. In one case, an officer with serial failures at nine departments, involving 16 incidents in which people he arrested got injured, the red flags that should have been raised never were, allowing him to mistreat residents of majority-Black neighborhoods despite a record indicating racism and brutality.

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In Germany, Confronting Shameful Legacy Is Essential Part of Police Training

Katrin Bennhold Melissa Eddy

June 23, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany

To prevent its police forces from ever again being turned into militarized and politicized tools of an authoritarian state, Germany requires all police trainees to visit former Nazi concentration camps and learn in detail how the Nazi regime used police as a tool. Though the historical comparisons to American policing of racial minorities is not equivalent, the explicit effort to break from a shameful past as a mode of cultural change is instructive. Other reforms include strict separation of police and military and a decentralized structure to keep unchecked power out of the hands of a single agency.

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Defund police? Some cities have already started, investing in mental health instead

Lindsay Schnell

June 22, 2020 |

USA Today |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Less than one month into its use of a crisis intervention team to handle mental health calls in place of the police, Denver’s one-year STAR pilot project has been flooded with calls and already has achieved success in cases where police presence could have been a hindrance. Like many cities modeling new programs on the successful, long-running CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon, Denver is making “defund the police” a reality with investments in mental health services. Empathic dialog in place of a police presence can lead to peaceful outcomes for people of color afraid of police.

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How 12 Teens Who'd Never Met Before Organized Honolulu's Black Lives Matter Protest

Suevon Lee

June 22, 2020 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Honolulu, Hawaii

Twelve Honolulu high school students, who had only ever met online, used social media to organize a Black Lives Matter protest that drew over 10,000 people. The teens used online forums to communicate about their goals for the protest and also to provide details to the public regarding the march's route, reminders to wear masks, remain peaceful, and abide by city laws. The teens also enlisted the support of established organizations to provide volunteers and bring hand sanitizer, water bottles, face masks, and bullhorns. The result was an entirely peaceful and emotionally stirring protest march and rally.

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