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What the Rest of America Can Learn From Colorado

Russell Berman

September 22, 2021 |

The Atlantic |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Aurora, Colorado

In the wake of 2020's social-justice protests and a controversial killing by Aurora police of a man in their custody, Colorado legislators passed the Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act, the first police-reform law of its kind in the nation. The law mandates several reforms aimed at improving transparency and accountability, including prompt release of body-cam videos and allowing people to sue police officers for violating their rights. The law has resulted already in a crackdown on misconduct in Aurora. What's less clear is whether it can change the culture of policing.

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#EndSARS: Impact Of Judicial Panels In Facilitating Justice For Victims Of Police Brutalities

Kehinde Ogunyale

September 04, 2021 |

HumAngle |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

Protests against alleged brutality and extrajudicial killings by Nigeria's Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) led to demands for judicial panels of inquiry to investigate the abuses and provide justice to victims. Of Nigeria's 36 states, 29 set up panels of inquiry, and seven of those submitted reports and recommendations. Some victims have been compensated for illegal arrests and beatings. While critics say these measures don't go far enough, they concede the reports and payments have provided at least some accountability.

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Marsy's Law was supposed to help victims. In Jacksonville, it shields police officers.

Uriel J. García

August 03, 2021 |

The Tributary (Jacksonville Journalism Collective) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jacksonville, Florida

A Florida constitutional amendment enacted in 2018 called Marsy's Law protects crime victims' rights, including the right to privacy when public-records laws would otherwise reveal victims' identity. But the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has interpreted a court decision to justify erasing from public records the names of police officers who shot or killed people, on the grounds that the police should legally be considered crime victims. Marsy's Law has been enacted in 14 states. Critics say it was not meant to undermine police accountability, but they have been unable to enact corrective legislation.

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Federal monitors cost millions, with disputed results. Seattle's police watchdog was a case in point.

David Nakamura

August 02, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Federal consent decrees install court-appointed monitors to oversee reforms agreed to by a police department and the U.S. Justice Department after federal officials have found a department violates people's civil rights. In Seattle, a long-running monitor program oversaw great improvement in the police department's use of force. But the project turned so acrimonious that the monitor called the department a failure and the department said the monitor lacked accountability and a sensible yardstick to measure success. The Biden administration has revived the program nationwide but is studying ways to fix it.

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What can East Lansing expect from its police oversight commission?

Mikayla Temple

July 16, 2021 |

WSYM-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Ann Arbor, Michigan

When Ann Arbor created a citizen panel overseeing its police department, it chose the approach that research shows is the one best suited to having real authority, and thus the most likely to reduce racial disparities in arrests and police shootings. It's too soon to know if the agency's investigations of complaints against police and review of police budgets and policies will achieve the ultimate goal of improving community trust in the police. But its chair says it is in a position to press for more accountability and transparency. East Lansing has just adopted the same model.

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Could A Ward Map Drawn By Citizens, Instead Of Aldermen, Become A Reality In Chicago?

Elly Fishman

July 12, 2021 |

WBEZ |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

California residents passed Proposition 11, a redistricting reform ballot initiative, in 2008 and in 2010, voters strengthened that reform by passing a bill to allow an independent commission to redraw state and congressional lines. Fourteen people, who were selected from 30,000 applicants, spent a year holding public hearings across the state to make informed decisions on how to fairly redraw district maps. As a result, more than a dozen Congressional incumbents lost their seats, which was not an intentional outcome but rather what resulted from decisions made based on the public testimony they heard.

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Rethinking policing: How Tempe de-escalation class changes officer behavior

Melissa Blasius

July 02, 2021 |

KNXV-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Tempe, Arizona

A controversial police shooting and other fraught encounters between Tempe police and residents prompted police to devise their own retraining regimen focused on de-escalation. The department observed other cities' programs and learned from its own officers who are known for defusing potentially volatile situations. After training some officers with the new curriculum, the department invited researchers to compare body-cam footage of trained and untrained officers. Though the findings did not show fewer shootings or uses of force, they did show a less aggressive, more calming approach.

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Police Reform: Police commission

John Glidden

June 30, 2021 |

Local News Matters |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Vallejo, California

Vallejo officials are studying which type of civilian oversight they want for their police department, following years of controversial shootings of residents. Nearby Oakland and San Francisco have some of the strongest models in the nation. In both cities, civilian oversight commissions can fire police chiefs while overseeing the integrity of investigations into alleged police misconduct. Such commissions come in three main types, with varying degrees of power and autonomy.

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Police Reform: Federal monitor

John Glidden

June 30, 2021 |

Local News Matters |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

With a long string of questionable uses of force and huge payouts to settle brutality lawsuits, the Vallejo Police Department might look to nearby Oakland for one approach to achieving better, more accountable policing: a court-appointed monitor. In Oakland, a monitor since 2003 has had the authority of a judge's order behind him as he and a staff oversee the city's use of force, handling of complaints, training, and other operations. The costly process is not without critics, nor is the Oakland department trouble-free. But some see the monitor as a force for positive change after a period of corruption.

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Post-Derek Chauvin, Police Are Training to Intervene When They Witness Misconduct

Zusha Elinson Denise Blostein Rob Alcaraz

June 28, 2021 |

Wall Street Journal |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

After videos showed two Minneapolis police officers did nothing to stop Derek Chauvin from killing George Floyd, more than 130 police departments raced to sign up to train their officers on how to intervene to prevent fellow officers from using excessive force or committing other misconduct. A course called Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) trains officers who then take the training to the officers in their departments. The training seeks to overcome the insular culture of policing, teaching an escalating series of tactics to stop misconduct on the spot.

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