Bankruptcy forced this California city to defund police. Here's how it changed public safety

Anita Chabria

July 13, 2020 |

Los Angeles Times |

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Response Location: United States, Stockton, California

Since filing for bankruptcy in 2012, at a time of high unemployment, spiking homicide rates, and deep alienation of the public from its police, Stockton, California has served as an experiment in involuntarily defunding of a police department. The city’s police chief championed a rethinking of policing’s role, seeking community partnerships with a police force whose ranks had been reduced to one of the lowest per-capita in the U.S. Serious problems remain, but public trust is up, crime is down, and homicides are solved at a much higher rate than in most cities.

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Could This City Hold the Key to the Future of Policing in America?

Joseph Goldstein Kevin Armstrong

July 12, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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Response Location: United States, Camden, New Jersey

Although driven by financial desperation and a desire to break a union, Camden, New Jersey’s decision to dismantle its police department and form a new one focused more on limiting its use of force has paid off in better community relations and arguably a role in reducing the city’s violence. Its approach is in high demand by other cities facing the same problems Camden confronted. At the same time, the reconstituted police force is faulted by critics for relying on intrusive surveillance and making racially disparate arrests for minor offenses.

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A grassroots policing alternative in Hartford spreads its wings

Isabella Zou

July 08, 2020 |

The Connecticut Mirror |

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Response Location: United States, Hartford, Connecticut

Members of a community group in North Hartford, CT, are a positive presence on the streets of the dangerous neighborhood they once grew up in. Men Standing Up Against Violence aim to deter violence, provide support, mediate conflicts, and mentor the youth. The presence of the group was initially unwelcomed by local police officers, but they have proven to be an effective and vital addition to the neighborhood, winning over both the community and the local police department. The group's success is attributed to the trust they've built with locals who often have a deep mistrust and fear of the police.

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As protests against police brutality go global, these Latina moms fight in memory of their sons

Esmeralda Bermudez

July 07, 2020 |

Los Angeles Times |

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Response Location: United States, Los Angeles County, California

Mothers of young Latino men killed by sheriff’s deputies in East Los Angeles have struggled to pry information from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, but along the way they have formed a network of support groups helping fellow survivors cope with their grief and trauma. The loosely organized groups, populated mainly by women who hardly consider themselves activists, respond to the scenes of police shootings and engage with the mothers of victims in the weeks and months afterward. They have formed a sort of accountability watchdog brigade for a department that resists oversight.

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Baltimore Hits Pause on Gun Violence Command Centers

J. Brian Charles

July 06, 2020 |

The Trace |

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Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

A strategy to improve the intelligence that steers policing and violence-intervention efforts has worked in Chicago and shown promising early signs in Baltimore. But plans to expand Strategic Decision Support Centers in Baltimore ran into political opposition, based on sentiment in favor of diverting police resources to other strategies. Chicago’s SDSC program is credited with a much greater reduction in shootings than in untargeted areas of the city. Baltimore likewise has seen homicides decline where SDSCs help police and violence interrupters decide where and on whom to focus their interventions.

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They envisioned a world without police. Inside Seattle's CHOP zone, protesters struggled to make it real

Elle Reeve Samantha Guff

July 06, 2020 |

CNN |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

The police-free zone that emerged during Seattle's protests in June 2020 was meant to demonstrate how safety could be provided by the community itself. But the six-square-block area, called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) and then Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), devolved into chaos and deadly violence thanks in part to the inability of organizers and their security team to keep armed people from committing violence. When fistfights turned into multiple shootings, and an ambulance crew could not reach a shooting victim, who died, police finally moved in and cleared the area.

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This town of 170,000 replaced some cops with medics and mental health workers. It's worked for over 30 years

Scottie Andrew

July 05, 2020 |

CNN |

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Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

The CAHOOTS crisis-response program saves its city money and its people living on the streets a great deal of unwanted police contact – contact that in other places is a common cause of excessive force and arrests that solve nothing. And, while less than 1% of its calls require police backup, the resource-thin agency cautions that it is a partner with police, not an antagonistic replacement, and that its model cannot simply be copied wholesale regardless of where it's used.

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Police reformers push for de-escalation training, but the jury is out on its effectiveness

Erin Schumaker

July 02, 2020 |

ABC News (American Broadcasting Company) |

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Response Location: United States

Teaching police de-escalation tactics to avoid the use of force in a crisis is a popular suggestion in the police-reform debate, but a number of structural deficits make success a great unknown. Before police departments embrace the concept, they must first realize there has been no rigorous testing of any particular training regimen for effectiveness, nor do any national standards on use of force exist. Police training and the definition of de-escalation tactics are both highly fractured, lacking common definitions based on proven effectiveness.

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Their Unlikely Alliance Began at Whataburger. Can They Reform a Texas Jail?

Maurice Chammah

July 01, 2020 |

The Marshall Project |

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Response Location: United States, Tyler, Texas

Dalila Reynoso's local activism blossomed into a full-blown watchdog role when COVID-19 began to spread through the Smith County, Texas, jail. The marriage of criminal justice reform and pandemic safety, vested in one woman, mirrors much larger court watch and jail watch projects in larger cities. For her part, Reynoso became a conduit for complaints about jail conditions. Thanks to her diplomatic skills, and a receptive sheriff's openness to criticism and change, the pair's efforts lowered virus cases from 52 to three within three weeks and lowered the jail population by more than 150 people.

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Trauma-informed practices necessary for police, experts say

Jordyn Haime

July 01, 2020 |

Concord Monitor |

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Response Location: United States, Manchester, New Hampshire

The Adverse Childhood Experience Response Team sends family and crisis services advocates with police officers on home visits to offer families trauma-informed services after police have responded to an earlier emergency at the home. More than 1,200 children have been referred to services, an offer of help most families accept. Although the pandemic shutdown interrupted house calls, the model has spread to other New Hampshire communities. The ultimate effectiveness of the intervention may not be known for years, and only if researchers can follow up to learn if it may have prevented future incidents.

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