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What is the public health approach to violence — and does it work?

Edward Siddons

September 28, 2018 |

Apolitical |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Public health approaches to violence, in which different sectors and agencies treat it as a contagious disease, has gained support across the world and has taken many forms. This approach relies on data collection to inform policy and devise services, as well as routine checks on the effectiveness of interventions and scaling the ones that work. While the public health approach to violence has saved costs and reduced police-recorded violence, there are ethical concerns about the widespread data gathering.

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Meet the 'Brave Ones': The women saving Africa's wildlife

Rachel Nuwer

September 27, 2018 |

BBC |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Zimbabwe

Akashinga translates to "the Brave Ones," and is the name given to an all women anti-poaching unit in Zimbabwe. Although not the first anti-poaching group lead by women, it is the first armed unit. However, since it's creation, the women have been able to make over seventy arrests without firing their weapons.

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Operation Ceasefire: Inside a Community's Radical Approach to Gang Violence

Scott Michels

September 26, 2018 |

Retro Report |

Documentary |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Operation Ceasefire, known as the “Boston miracle,” abandoned traditional policing’s responses to street violence, which caused severe racial tensions, and created a community coalition that used a carrot-and-stick model of targeting people at risk of suffering or committing violence, threatening them with punishment but offering instead social services if they put their guns down. After dramatically reducing violence in Boston in the early 1990s, it spread nationwide. But this highly targeted enforcement method can fail when it isn’t done by the book or sustained over a long period.

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Professional Hand-Holders

Kyle Norris

September 17, 2018 |

Finding Fixes |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Washington

Washington’s Snohomish County has implemented a program that embeds social workers with the police. The program has been an effective method to bring services to people in need rather than arrest and process them as criminals.

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Reform Activists and a New DA Find Common Ground

Ruxandra Guidi

September 09, 2018 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

In Texas' Harris County, the state's most populous county, a grassroots collective of criminal justice activists contributed to a political shift that led to reforms in prosecutions, jails, bail, and policing. Inspired by the movement sparked by the death of Michael Brown in Missouri in 2014, groups such as Houston Justice and the Texas Organizing Project backed the election of a reform-minded district attorney, who turned toward community collaboration and away from tough-on-crime solutions. The new DA, plus favorable court rulings and state laws, softened the country's rough-justice reputation.

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Wander the Halls, Say Hello: A New Approach to School Safety

Eliza Shapiro

September 05, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

When Mayor de Blasio surveyed students at a forum following the Parkland shooting, almost none of them said they felt comfortable confiding in the security officer assigned to their school. This fall, New York City's public schools are piloting a restorative justice approach to school safety - safety agents, acting as "beat cops," are now expected to walk the halls, engage with students, and deescalate conflict. The initiative, still playing out, has been met with mixed reviews.

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Beyond the Stigma: Team goes door to door to help child victims of extreme trauma

Shawne K. Wickham

September 03, 2018 |

New Hampshire Union Leader |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Manchester, New Hampshire

In New Hampshire, Manchester police have teamed with community organizations to proactively offer services to children who have experienced or witnessed trauma, before those very children grow up to repeat the cycle. The Advert Childhood Experiences Response Team (ACERT) "has contacted more than 1,000 children in about 700 families" since its inception in late 2015.

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As Violence Soared in Mexico, This Town Bucked the Trend

Paulina Villegas

September 01, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Mexico, Morelia, Michoacan

One police commander in Morelia is trying to change the rampant mistrust Mexicans have of the police. The new commander implemented a set of new policies that shifted the focus of the police to low-level neighborhood crimes. “What we can do is deal with the issues that regular folks face every day.” Community meetings, allowing people to file complaints on the spot, and creating victim centers, are just some of the few things he did. And it worked: The number of crimes reported rose by 435, compared to the previous year.

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Ensenada shows U.S. police departments what drones can do to fight crime

Gustavo Solis

August 30, 2018 |

San Diego Union-Tribune |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Mexico, Ensenada

Police in Ensenada, Mexico, have been using drones since October 2017 and it has led to more than 500 arrests and a 10 percent drop in crime. The drones have fostered faster response times and help police decide how to allocate resources appropriately, while highlighting risks before officers approach a property. Officials in Chula Vista, Calif., are working with the same drone company to start a similar program, which could prompt changes in federal policies on using drones in the U.S.

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Can the Manufacturer of Tasers Provide the Answer to Police Abuse?

Dana Goodyear

August 27, 2018 |

The New Yorker |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Data suggests that when an officer is wearing a body camera the likelihood that they will shoot a person decreases by as much as 60 percent. Axon Enterprises, which originally made a fortune from selling taser guns to police departments, started investing in body cameras back in 2006. Now, they are the largest manufacturer “holding contracts with more than half the major police departments in the country.” The company believes this technology will bridge the gap between lethal force and safety.

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