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The Obama Justice Department Had a Plan to Hold Police Accountable for Abuses. The Trump DOJ Has Undermined It.

Robert Faturechi

September 29, 2020 |

ProPublica |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

One of the most powerful tools used to reform policing practices, widely credited with restoring public faith in such troubled departments as the Los Angeles Police Department, is called a consent decree. The U.S. Justice Department sues cities where police abuses are seen as rampant. Then, under the watchful eye of a judge and independent monitor, the department agrees to a package of reforms. Under the Trump Justice Department, though, the tool has gone unused in new cases. In existing cases, the government has become passive, allowing cities to flout their agreements without consequence.

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Here's How Chicago Police Spent 4 Million Hours Of Anti-Violence Overtime

Elliott Ramos

September 29, 2020 |

WBEZ |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

As Chicago touts the latest in a series of anti-violence police units, a look back at the Violence Reduction Initiative launched in 2012 teaches lessons about how a program that claims credit for falling violence still might be termed a failure for its lack of focus and for the collateral damage it inflicts on a suffering community. VRI spent $4 million on police overtime to saturate 20 South and West Side areas, targeting not only illegal gun possession but a host of minor offenses, burdening mostly Black residents with parking fines and frequent police stops, alienating them from their protectors.

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Low-key cops and a white shaggy dog: How Marathon County transformed its response to residents in crisis

Peter Cameron

September 28, 2020 |

Wausau Pilot and Review |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Wausau, Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, plain-clothes law enforcement officers are teaming up with mental health experts to handle calls related to crisis intervention. The goal of the Marathon County Crisis Assessment Response Team is to reduce unnecessary detentions of people experiencing mental health crises, while also increasing trust with the community. In the two years since the program launched, the "rate of hospitalizing or jailing people in crisis" has dropped in both consecutive years, which has consequently saved the county a great deal of expenses.

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Heroes of the pandemic: “When the world is burning, I feel I must help put out the fire”

Victoria Bouloubasis Andrea Patiño Contreras

September 24, 2020 |

Enlace Latino NC |

Multi-Media |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

A group of health professionals known as Latinx Advocacy Team & Interdisciplinary Network for COVID-19, or LATIN-19, is helping to bring coronavirus-specific health care access to North Carolina's Latino community. Because the group operates across county lines, they have become well-known amongst the local communities, helping to not only provide much-needed health care services, but also increase awareness around the dangers of the virus.

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The Big Dance: Saving the Great Bear Rainforest

Andrew MacLeod

September 24, 2020 |

The Tyee |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, British Columbia

Finding common ground between environmentalists, logging companies, and indigenous communities to protect the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada took years of discussion and even a dance at an Elton John concert. But these groups were able to negotiate an agreement to make 3.1 million hectares of rainforest off limits to logging, allow 500,000 hectares available for forestry, and strengthen First Nations rights. The process could be a model for what reconciliation can look like among competing interests.

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Old school still rules: Lee-Harvard's high census response rate could teach other neighborhoods a few tricks

Lee Chilcote Conor Morris

September 22, 2020 |

The Land |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

The high census completion rate in Lee-Harvard, as high as 70%, compared to Cleveland’s 50% as a whole, is the result of regular meetings, pre-pandemic, to educate residents of the benefits of the census and dispel common myths. After the pandemic, volunteers at the community center’s monthly food distribution provided census-related information. A group of retired women, called the Ward 1 Volunteer Navigators, also went door-to-door to make sure everyone got counted. Because many of the residents are long time homeowners, neighbor-to-neighbor relationships also led more residents to complete the census.

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In New Zealand, Police Work and Social Work Can Go Together

Serena Solomon

September 22, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: New Zealand, South Auckland

In South Auckland, epicenter of New Zealand's high rates of domestic violence, police respond to calls for help but instantly call in Te Taanga Manawa, a Māori-led team of multiple, culturally appropriate social-services agencies to guide families toward fixing the root of their problems. In the past, police may have made referrals to services agencies. But the Māori's distrust and the time lag in getting offers of help meant that families often rejected it, having papered over their conflict for a time. Now, nearly all accept the help offered while the crisis is still hot.

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In Place of Police: The Oregon Experiment

Krithika Varagur

September 18, 2020 |

New York Review of Books |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

CAHOOTS fields teams of mental-health first responders as a cost-effective and more humane alternative to sending the police to 911 calls for crises and even mundane problems concerning mental health, drugs and alcohol, domestic disputes, homelessness, and potential suicides. Weeks of observing their work illustrates the carefully circumscribed role they play in defusing the immediate crisis without necessarily solving the underlying problem entirely. Responding repeatedly to the same people's problems builds trust, but its ultimate success depends on a broader network of health and social services.

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What Germany teaches the world in a crisis

John Kampfner

September 16, 2020 |

Financial Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany

Germany has weathered the pandemic with lower illness rates than its neighbors and a relatively strong economy thanks to leadership and responses that have evolved and helped the country thrive in the three decades since reunification. The author of the book "Why the Germans Do It Better: Notes from a Grown-Up Country" reports on the blend of governing, business, and social approaches to challenges – rooted in a concept of "social trust" in the state and society, and a steady, deliberate, caring mindset – that help the country confront a contagion, a recession, or a refugee crisis.

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Policing the Police 2020

Jelani Cobb

September 15, 2020 |

PBS Frontline |

Documentary |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

Revisiting Newark police reform six years after an earlier documentary, and after federal intervention, signs of progress provide hope in a year of unrest over police misconduct nationwide. Policies and training were overhauled, civilian oversight was imposed, albeit with limitations. Public trust edged up, and the police claim an increase in use-of-force incidents is due to better compliance with reporting requirements. Violence is down, with more use of community-based prevention instead of just policing. But the root causes of racial disparities remain, unable to be solved just by improving policing.

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