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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: Federal monitor

John Glidden

June 30, 2021 |

Local News Matters |

Text |

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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Police Reform: Police commission

John Glidden

June 30, 2021 |

Local News Matters |

Text |

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: Walking a beat

John Glidden

June 30, 2021 |

Local News Matters |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Richmond, California

When the Richmond Police Department began putting police officers on foot patrol, walking neighborhood beats, relations with the public improved. That and other changes were associated with higher public trust and lower violence. But budget cuts have undermined the program. Now, nearby Vallejo is considering its options to address poor community relations and high gun violence. It is unclear whether Vallejo has passed the point of no return in its troubled police-community relations.

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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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ShotSpotter tech eyed as possible tool in gun violence prevention

Maria McGinnis

June 21, 2021 |

The Land |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

An audio alert service called ShotSpotter uses audio sensors and algorithms to detect gunfire and report it to the Cleveland police. The technology is helping to bridge the gap in unreported gunfire in the city.

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Crisis counselors are being hailed as police alternatives. It's too heavy a burden, some say.

Rebecca Tan

June 16, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Montgomery County, Maryland

Montgomery County's longtime crisis response center illustrates the pitfalls of embracing a policing alternative without proper resources or thinking through the implications. The racial-justice protests of 2020 inspired many more cities and counties to explore mobile crisis response teams instead of police, to minimize violence and get people needed help instead of incarceration. While Montgomery County's team often deescalates crises and can either provide care or refer people to needed services, it lacks the staff to respond effectively. And the system of mental health care is too thin for the need.

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Meet the baroness catching paedophiles red-handed

Rosa Ellis

June 13, 2021 |

The Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

The people who produce child pornography give police invaluable evidence, if it can be decoded, when they film themselves sexually abusing children. A Scottish forensic anthropologist and anatomist has helped both in the prosecution and defense of abuse cases by determining whether the hands that are seen in a video belong to the person charged with the crime. Her method of finding conclusive points of comparison now is being used to develop algorithms that could spread the detection method worldwide.

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'Just stop the bleeding': The first-aid training officers used to save lives in Austin's mass shooting

Tori Larned

June 12, 2021 |

KVUE-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Austin, Texas

Since 2014, all Austin police officers and cadets receive first-aid training, including the use of tourniquets and CPR. The training, which covers four weeks for cadets, is meant to provide stopgap, life-saving aid when more highly trained medics cannot reach the scene of a mass shooting quickly enough. Gunshot victims can bleed to death quickly, making the speed of the response paramount. Police provided such aid to multiple victims of a June 12, 2021, mass shooting, including transporting people in police vehicles to hospitals. The response is credited with saving lives.

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Reshaping mental health crisis response in Santa Cruz County

Stephen Baxter

June 11, 2021 |

Santa Cruz Local |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Santa Cruz, California

The nationwide 988 call system for suicide prevention and mental health crises will go live in July 2022, with federal funding available for certain local crisis response programs. Santa Cruz and Alameda counties already offer a variety of police and non-police teams that will either benefit from the new system or must adapt to the changes coming. Most of the non-police responses in the area operate only during daytime hours, and in the case of Santa Cruz's Mobile Emergency Response Team are not well known by the public. When police are the default responders, people may not get the care they need.

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