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  • ‘Crime-Free' Housing Ordinances, Explained

    February 17, 2021 |

    The Appeal |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Starting in the early 1990s, thousands of American towns and cities passed "crime-free housing" ordinances that purport to reduce crime in rental housing. The laws encourage or require landlords to evict tenants based on calls to police, or the criminal records of tenants or their houseguests. The laws' lack of due process has turned them into a tool promoting segregation and retaliation against people of color. Frequently enacted in places that have begun to diversify racially, they give police too much power to declare certain residences a nuisance. Legal challenges have begun to curb some abuses.

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  • Gun violence crisis: With revenge & retaliation on the rise, how police are responding

    February 17, 2021 |

    WLOS-TV |

    Broadcast TV News |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Buffalo, New York

    Asheville, North Carolina, police hope to model a violence-intervention program on one in Buffalo, New York, in which police use "custom notifications" to identify people prone to violence. Those notified are given a choice between arrest or assistance in redirecting their lives, with help from social services providers. Buffalo's program is credited with a 24% decline in gun violence in 2019, before the pandemic put it on hold and shootings rose again.

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  • Anti-human trafficking apps were meant to save lives. They're failing

    February 16, 2021 |

    Wired |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

    Since its April 2018 founding in Malaysia, the Be My Protector app has enabled interventions in 120 cases of suspected human trafficking, sparked by anonymous reports that its app enables. In about a third of those cases, which mostly involved migrant workers in South and Southeast Asia, the victims were able to return to their homes, while others were offered counseling. But, like the more than 90 such apps available around the world, Be My Protector has struggled to make a big impact. Many such apps capitalize on a trendy subject without a clear focus on improving conditions and helping victims.

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  • Human remains found at Multnomah Falls identified after 42 years

    February 15, 2021 |

    The Oregonian |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Oregon

    Oregon law enforcement agencies partnered with a Virginia laboratory, Parabon NanoLabs, to use genetic genealogy to learn the identities of people whose remains were found long ago but never identified. To give peace of mind to families who never knew for sure of their loved ones' deaths, researchers use DNA samples taken from the human remains to compare to publicly available DNA profiles shared by people using home DNA tests. This can identify a victim's family tree. So far, Parabon has identified six of the 10 people it has tested for Oregon. The state has more than 150 unidentified skeletal remains.

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  • Oonee Wants to Fix New York Bike Parking with Free, Secure Storage Pods

    February 11, 2021 |

    Bloomberg |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    An early-stage startup with big plans to change bicycling culture and commuting habits has notched one victory already, with its first secure-parking pods in New York City: Out of 60,000 times they've been used, the pods have only suffered one theft, at a time of rampant bike theft. Startup Oonee provides an alternative to locking up bikes and scooters on the street during work hours. Parking in an enclosed shelter is advertising-supported, so it's free to users. Ultimately, Oonee hopes to surround parking with a suite of services useful to two-wheeled commuters.

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  • ‘I'm Stronger Now:' Support Centers For Trauma Survivors Expanding In Illinois

    February 08, 2021 |

    WBEZ |

    Radio |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Illinois

    Since 2017, two publicly funded trauma recovery centers in Illinois have helped violent-crime survivors cope with the emotional fallout that can accompany a loved one's murder or surviving their own violent attack. Case managers help people get group and individual therapy. They can also line up financial aid to help people pay for food and rent, when their trauma interferes with their ability to make a living. The centers, based on a model developed in California as a way to foster public safety through healing communities, will expand by three more in the state in 2021.

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  • Plan to beautify 50 vacant lots falls short nearly two years later

    February 07, 2021 |

    Chicago Sun-Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

    Since June 2019, Chicago's Grounds for Peace pilot project has begun cleaning up vacant, city-owned lots using an approach to urban beautification that has been shown in other cities, and in one Chicago neighborhood, to reduce crime and boost residents' feelings of safety. While the city and its contractors consider the project a success in the making, thus far only two of the original 50 targeted lots show signs of improvement. Project leaders blame funding shortfalls, disruptions due to the pandemic, and difficulties in removing abandoned vehicles.

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  • Health care workers replaced Denver cops in handling hundreds of mental health and substance abuse cases — and officials say it saved lives

    February 06, 2021 |

    CBS News |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

    Denver's STAR program (Support Team Assisted Response) replaced police officers with health professionals on 748 calls for help. In incidents involving mental health, homelessness, and substance abuse, police backup was never needed, no one was arrested, and minor crises did not risk escalating into violence because of police presence. The six-month pilot project will expand to more parts of the city and more hours of the week, with an infusion of city money to supplement the private funding that got the program started.

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  • Denver successfully sent mental health professionals, not police, to hundreds of calls

    February 06, 2021 |

    USA Today |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

    In its first six months, Denver's STAR program (Support Team Assistance Response) handled 748 emergency calls that in the past would have gone to the police or firefighters. Two-person teams of a medic and clinician helped people with personal crises related mainly to homelessness and mental illness. None of the calls required police involvement and no one was arrested. The city plans to spend more to expand the program, which is meant to prevent needless violence and incarceration from calls to the police that other types of first-responders can better address.

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  • After Capitol riot, desperate families turn to groups that ‘deprogram' extremists

    February 05, 2021 |

    The Washington Post |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Groups like Parents for Peace and Life After Hate use former radicals to counsel people in the grip of right-wing extremism. Bombarded by pleas for help by families since the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, these groups use a series of meetings to help people examine the roots of their ideology, with an aim of helping them discover for themselves the irrationality of their hatred and other beliefs. While one researcher says the methods show signs of effectiveness, success is defined mainly in individual stories of change, in a hard-to-measure process of "personal and idiosyncratic" introspection.

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