American cities have long struggled to reform their police – but isolated success stories suggest community and officer buy-in might be key

Thaddeus L. Johnson Natasha N. Johnson

April 30, 2021 |

The Conversation |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cincinnati, Ohio

One police-reform program that outperformed and outlasted most cities' attempts was Cincinnati's "collaborative agreement," an unusual team effort focused on community involvement at every step. Sparked by a controversial police shooting of an unarmed Black man, the program went beyond federal government and court oversight to include other key stakeholders in the community and police unions. Changed policies on use of force, crime prevention, and police accountability led to lower crime, improved police-community relations, fewer injuries, and fewer racially biased traffic stops.

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Officers try to break stigma, offer help to drug users

Stephanie Casanova

April 29, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Police Department's Substance Use Resource Team reaches out on the streets to people with substance-use disorder, offering them treatment instead of arrest and jail. The team is an extension of the department's mental health support team and was started in response to the opioid epidemic. Officers talk to people they find on the streets, or follow up on 911 calls for overdoses. Not everyone accepts the offered help, and some end up arrested on warrants. But, at a time of rising overdose deaths, the officers and the peer support specialists who accompany them often can get people into treatment.

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How a US strategy is helping gang members in Malmö turn their lives around

Anne Grietje Franssen

April 29, 2021 |

The Local |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Malmö

When drug-gang violence reached intolerable levels in Malmö in 2017, Swedish crime prevention officials traveled to New York for tips. There they learned about a gang violence intervention strategy in which gang members are summoned to a meeting with law enforcement, community, and social-services representatives. They are told about the harm they are causing, are offered help in changing their lifestyle, and are warned that they will be prosecuted otherwise. In Malmö since then, hundreds heard that message, dozens accepted the help, and violence dropped significantly year after year.

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They answer the call when people are in crisis

Gino Fanelli

April 29, 2021 |

City Newspaper (Rochester) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Rochester, New York

Following the death of Daniel Prude in Rochester police custody, the city consulted with the operators of Eugene's CAHOOTS program to craft its own version of a team of unarmed responders to help resolve mental health or substance abuse crises without the use of violence. Rochester's Person In Crisis (PIC) team has averaged about 21 calls per day since January. All calls are made with the police in tandem, unlike CAHOOTS' model. Some violent incidents in Rochester have raised questions about PIC's ability to defuse conflict. But the operators say they have begun to make a positive difference.

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When communities try to hold police accountable, law enforcement fights back

Nicole Dungca Jenn Abelson

April 27, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Albuquerque, New Mexico

A favorite remedy for systemic police misconduct is a civilian oversight agency. More than 160 cities and counties have such agencies, some at the insistence of the U.S. Justice Department. But, as Albuquerque and multiple other cities have shown, a common set of factors often undermine the effectiveness of such agencies. These factors start with structural defects, limiting the agencies' independent investigatory and disciplinary powers, and extend to strenuous opposition from police unions and their political allies.

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What Dallas can learn from Oakland's experience in lowering violent crime

Krista M. Torralva

April 25, 2021 |

Dallas Morning News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

The "striking resemblance" between the gun violence problems of Oakland in 2012 and Dallas in 2020 argue in favor of Dallas' adoption of Oakland's Operation Ceasefire approach to violence reduction. By using a "focused deterrence" strategy of targeting people most at risk of committing or suffering violence, and offering services to change their lives' trajectory, Oakland saw six consecutive years of violence reductions, cutting gun violence rates in half. The program was disrupted by the pandemic, but its reliance on community resources and not just law enforcement is seen as a lasting effect.

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CSI Houston: How a Texas lab has remade the science of forensics

Henry Gass

April 23, 2021 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

One of the first crime-lab scandals gave birth to a better way of ensuring the integrity and accuracy of forensic evidence. The Houston Forensic Science Center operates independently of law enforcement agencies, with a large staff of scientists and a healthy budget to correct some of the resource-related flaws of its police-run predecessor. Perhaps its greatest innovation is a system of regularly running blind tests as a quality check, to make sure the staff stays vigilant. The goal is to avoid the kinds of bad science that often contribute to wrongful convictions and other injustices.

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Denver police are solving more nonfatal shootings with a new unit

Kelly Reinke

April 21, 2021 |

KUSA-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Denver police solve far more nonfatal shootings than in the past because they created a special detectives unit to centralize and prioritize such investigations. In its first year, the Firearm Assault Shoot Team (FAST) solved two-thirds of the 165 cases it investigated, up from about 25% in the past, when investigations were a lower priority and handled at the police district level. Police in Texas and Connecticut have expressed interest in modeling programs on FAST. Denver police hope more arrests mean fewer shootings, and fewer reasons people feel a need to carry guns in the first place.

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A Fatal Police Shooting in Lents Was the Nightmare Portland Officials Tried to Prevent

Tess Riski

April 21, 2021 |

Willamette Week |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

After the U.S. Justice Department found that Portland police used excessive force too often when dealing with people in mental health crises, the city formed an unarmed mobile crisis team and a team of police officers with extra training in such cases. Neither team was used when a man with a history of mental illness, armed with what turned out to be a toy gun, was shot to death by a police officer. The Portland Street Response team was not called because the incident occurred outside its limited working hours during the team's pilot phase.

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Connections over controversy: criminal justice department and BSU team up to add BLM flag to display

Katarina Rothhorn

April 21, 2021 |

The North Wind |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Marquette, Michigan

Northern Michigan University's Black Student Union turned its unhappiness with the display on campus of a "thin blue line" flag into a series of deep and open conversations that led to a compromise and a new set of collaborations. The university's criminal justice department had put the flag on display. One BSU member approached the department chair to ask that it be removed. But that led to a long, respectful conversation, followed by meetings of students on both sides. A Black Lives Matter flag was added to the display and the two groups are planning a joint educational program on the issue.

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