New Orleans actively releases videos of police shootings. Is it paying off with trust?

Christiaan Mader

November 23, 2020 |

The Current (Louisiana) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

Once viewed as one of the nation's most brutal and corrupt police departments, New Orleans Police Department has earned steadily improving public support with a host of reforms. One reform that it took voluntarily, and in contrast with common practice in Louisiana, is to quickly release body-camera videos of police shootings and other uses of force. Though its effect is hard to untangle from other initiatives, video releases have become routine. In one case, a video prompted an official apology after proving rubber bullets were used against protesters. This helped lead to new restrictions on crowd control.

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Revolutionizing Representation in Documentary: The Making of 'Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen'

Kristal Sotomayor

November 20, 2020 |

Documentary Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The production model of the documentary Disclosure prioritized diversity, inclusion, and empowering transgender people both on screen and behind the scenes. Over 120 trans people contributed to the film. Nine trans Fellows, many of whom have since made their own films, received stipends, mentoring, hands-on training, and networking opportunities. Trans representation behind the camera increased interviewee openness and all interviewees were compensated for their time. While a controversial practice in documentary film making, it was implemented to avoid exploitative and extractive storytelling practices.

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Richmond art studio helps people with disabilities stay connected

Isabella Bloom

November 20, 2020 |

Richmond Confidential |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Nurturing Independence through Artistic Development provides classes and studio space for artists with disabilities. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization now offers six hours of daily virtual services to the 67 artists it serves, including sculpting, drawing, ceramics, and fashion making classes. Social activities, like bingo, cooking, meditation, and movement classes, are also offered online. The programming keeps the artists connected during the isolation of the pandemic and staff regularly text and call the artists who opt out of the virtual programming to maintain that connection.

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Stopped: Profiling the Police Town Hall

Nick Haines

November 19, 2020 |

KCPT |

Broadcast TV News |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Missouri requires police to record the race of drivers from every traffic stop, a response meant to expose and ultimately reduce racial profiling in law enforcement. But, 20 years after that law took effect, Black drivers are 95% more likely to be stopped by police than white drivers, the biggest gap since the state started collecting the data. The policy was rendered meaningless because the data are collected inconsistently, high rates of noncompliance with the policy go unpunished, and individual officers' records go uncounted. As a result, there's no accountability for racist traffic enforcement.

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Worker-led programs like Milk with Dignity are key to protecting dairy farm workers

Aaron Mok

November 19, 2020 |

Prism |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Vermont

A first-of-its-kind worker-led program in Vermont is helping dairy migrant workers to "hold farmers, corporations, and suppliers in the dairy industry accountable for the rights of workers in their supply-chains through a legally-binding agreement." Although not all dairy farm operations have joined in the program as participants, it has been enacted on 64 farms and helped bolster wages and housing situations for migrant farmers.

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In Denver, Unarmed Mental Health Workers Respond To Hundreds Of 911 Calls Instead Of Police

Leigh Paterson

November 17, 2020 |

KUNC |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Since Denver launched its Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program in June, it has handled more than 600 calls for help with a mental health clinician and a paramedic instead of sending police officers. Modeled on Eugene, Oregon's CAHOOTS program, STAR is based on the notion that low-level emergencies involving mental health, homelessness, and substance abuse do not require police responses, and in fact can more often end peacefully by removing police from the equation. STAR started small, with one van on duty during weekday hours. Police support the move, and often call in STAR for assistance.

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From prison to star employee

Jo Mathys

November 17, 2020 |

BBC |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Frustrated by a tight labor market, two locally owned Grand Rapids employers discovered the virtues – economic, not just moral – of hiring formerly incarcerated people, whose gratitude for an opportunity translated into excellent performance and less risk of adding to rapid turnover. The employers helped guarantee success by paying for support services that made post-prison transitions easier. The employers then talked hundreds of other local employers into doing the same. Besides providing a business advantage, the program changes lives and is evidently contributing to much lower rates of recidivism.

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An African American quilter confronts racism amid COVID-19

Jingnan Peng

November 17, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

The killing of George Floyd inspired a series of exhibits in Minneapolis featuring quilts made by over 100 artists depicting stories of racial injustices and also empowerment in the United States. These protest quilts join a long tradition of sharing stories of fear and perseverance experienced by Black people, especially Black women, in society. Today, these same quilters responded to Covid-19 by making masks. The over 500 members of The Women of Color Quilters Network have made close to 20,000 masks, many of which they have given for free to health care and other front line workers.

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Where the COVID-19 Pandemic Might Finally Ignite Change in the Bail Bonds System

Renata Sago

November 16, 2020 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Miami, Florida

The spread of COVID-19 in jails prompted many releases from custody and a surge in donations to bail funds that pay for people's release. But those fixes have done little to address the underlying challenges of detaining millions of people before trial, either because they cannot afford cash bail or because risk-assessment tools deem them a threat to public safety or unlikely to return to court. In two South Florida jails, the struggles over containing the virus, providing due process to criminal defendants, and ensuring public safety have brought the debate into sharper focus.

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A Watchdog Accused Officers of Serious Misconduct. Few Were Punished.

Blacki Migliozzi Ashley Southall Ali Watkins

November 15, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York City established its Civilian Complaint Review board in 1993 to strengthen its police-discipline system, a response to complaints that police officers rarely were punished for harassment and brutality, especially in Black and brown neighborhoods. In 6,900 cases in which the board recommended the toughest punishment, however, police officials overruled it more than 70% of the time over the past two decades. The result is a disciplinary mechanism designed to instill trust but that instead "has become all but toothless" because of how it is structured and how police leaders responded to oversight.

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