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The Mexican women who kicked out the cartels

Monica Wise Robles Richard Sprenger Katie Lamborn Charlie Phillips

April 15, 2021 |

The Guardian |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Mexico, Cherán, Michoacan

Ten years after the women of Cherán, an indigenous town in Michoacán, took up arms to lead an uprising against criminal cartels, their town is an "oasis" of low crime in a region otherwise beset with violence. The town declared itself autonomous and women now belong to the community police force that patrols the town and its surroundings. The cartels' illegal logging and extortion of businesses had corrupted local politicians and threatened a way of life. The town's men did nothing about it, so the women led the uprising that established order and kept the crime at bay.

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With phones and seeds, jobless Kenyans tackle illegal logging

Kagondu David Njagi

April 15, 2021 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Kwale

As a way to combat unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to prevent further deforestation in Kenya, local rangers are using smartphones, satellite feeds, and global mapping to monitor their forests. The project employs more than 250 people and allows them to target vulnerable areas more effectively. Because of their efforts, there have been lower incidences of illegal logging and forest fires from poachers.

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A Portland Program Intended to Reduce Police Interactions With People in Crisis Is Off to a Slow Start

Tess Riski

April 14, 2021 |

Willamette Week |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

The Portland Street Response program sends a paramedic and social worker on non-emergency calls, often involving mental health crises, instead of sending police. The pilot project, operating during weekday hours in one neighborhood, was assigned 60 calls in its first 40 business days. That tiny percentage of 911 calls falls short of expectations, possibly because dispatchers' screening of calls is defined too narrowly, or because dispatchers are being protective of the police. Supporters say the program always was meant to start small and deliberately, but its call volume is averaging much less than planned.

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Charlotte is taking a new approach to drug cases. It could change lives.

Devna Bose

April 13, 2021 |

The Charlotte Observer |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

The Mecklenburg County district attorney stopped prosecuting non-violent, low-level drug cases to free up resources to handle a backlog of more serious cases that built up during the pandemic. The policy had the effect of freeing people from the permanent stain of a criminal conviction and offering them drug treatment as an alternative to punishment.

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Nemokamos nakvynės viešbučiuose ir „Uber“ pavėžėjimai – taip su smurtu artimoje aplinkoje kovoja prancūzai

Giedrė Trapikaitė

April 13, 2021 |

Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT) |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: France

Prancūzija operatyviai ėmėsi karantino metu išaugusio smurto namuose atvejų problemos. Įsitraukė bendruomenės, socialiai atsakingas verslas, diegtos inovacijos prevencijos, pagalbos ir smurtaujančiųjų baudimo sistemose. Ko galėtų pasimokyti Lietuva?

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No badges. No guns. Can violence interrupters help Minneapolis?

Martin Kuz

April 13, 2021 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

MinneapolUS puts unarmed community members on Minneapolis streets to prevent street violence, part of the city's effort to redirect resources from the police to other crime-prevention efforts. Four teams of 20 to 30 members, many of them former gang members and formerly incarcerated, have intervened in beatings and potential shootings. They use a public-health approach pioneered by the organization Cure Violence, which has proven effective in other cities.

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The Polarised City (1): How 2 Jos Communities Struggle To Unite After Years Of Crises

Nathaniel Bivan

April 12, 2021 |

HumAngle |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Jos

With help from nongovernmental organizations, the people of two communities who clashed violently since 2001 found ways to coexist peacefully since 2019. Violent attacks and reprisals between the Christians of Unguwar Balakazai and Muslims of Mai Damisa claimed hundreds of lives and destroyed homes repeatedly. Elders trained by the Youth Initiative Against Violence and Human Rights Abuse told youth stories about peace in Jos in the past. Youth ambassadors trained by the Jos Stakeholders for Peace Centre met and agreed to lay down their weapons.

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What do communities do when the police retreat?

Robert Klemko

April 12, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Little Earth Protectors is one of several community patrol groups that emerged in Minneapolis' unrest after George Floyd's death in police custody. Named for a mostly Native American neighborhood with high rates of violence, the Protectors filled a vacuum left by short-staffed police who had lost support in the community. Patrolling the streets, usually unarmed, the Protectors mediate disputes, discourage drug and prostitution activity, and guard against property destruction. Seven larger groups doing this work have been given city contracts to provide their services if civil unrest breaks out again.

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In the wake of hate, the law is not always enough

Meg McIntyre

April 11, 2021 |

Concord Monitor |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Dover, New Hampshire

Hate crime laws apply to a narrow range of conduct, and often fail as a response to bias incidents that constitute hate speech but are not in themselves a crime. When high school students working on a history class project produced a video with a song treating the KKK and racist murders as a joke, the school and community responded not with prosecutions but with community dialogues to air differences of opinion about the incident. Students of color then formed a group, Project D.R.E.A.M., that expanded the conversations to the entire school, educating a mainly white community about the impact of racism.

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In a changing city, Germantown still has men who care

Brandon Dorfman

April 07, 2021 |

Generocity |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

An organization in North Philadelphia facilitates anti-violence programs through youth mentoring and community outreach. Men Who Care aims to prevent crime and to provide an “all-inclusive community care effort” to improve the quality of life for community members through a variety of services and activities. A few of those initiatives include: Community festivals, education pods during virtual learning, weekly food pantries, and financial scholarships for college.

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