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Can police be taught to stop their own violence?

Douglas Starr

May 06, 2021 |

The Boston Globe |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

When Minneapolis police officers were videotaped standing by or trying ineffectively to intervene in George Floyd's murder by a fellow officer, horrified police departments nationwide rushed to embrace a peer intervention program called ABLE (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement). ABLE is based on a five-year-old program that has helped transform the culture of New Orleans' once-troubled police department, cutting shootings, taser uses, and citizen complaints. Officers are taught how to overcome rank and cultural inhibitors with actions and language that stop brutality by their colleagues.

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Study Shows Gun Violence Program Working

Vicki Gonzalez

May 06, 2021 |

Capital Public Radio (Sacramento) |

Radio Talk Show |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Sacramento, California

Advance Peace mentors young people at risk of committing or suffering gun violence, guiding them through a "life map" process to exit street life and set goals for a safer, healthier future. The program, which started in Richmond and has expanded to other cities in California and beyond, contributed to a 22% decrease in gun homicides and assaults in an 18-month period. The decrease was 39% in the first targeted neighborhood. Mentoring includes linking youth to cognitive behavioral therapy, jobs, and field trips to expand their experiences. When they meet certain goals, they get paid a "life map allowance."

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Addiction treatment drug buprenorphine easier to prescribe under Biden

Dave Miller Allison Frost

May 04, 2021 |

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) |

Radio Talk Show |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Bupreneophine (also known as Suboxone) is a highly effective medication to treat opioid use disorder and addiction. It is life-saving, both in reducing the risk of fatal overdoses and helping people function better as they get treatment for their disorder. But prescribing and dispensing it is in many ways more highly regulated than the prescribing and dispensing of opioids themselves. A researcher who surveyed pharmacies found that many refuse to dispense the medication out of fear of regulatory sanctions or because of misplaced moral objections to medication-assisted treatment.

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National bail fund to expand in the Deep South

Aaron Morrison

May 04, 2021 |

Associated Press |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Since 2018, The Bail Project has turned $41 million in donated money into cash bail to free more than 15,500 people in dozens of cities from pretrial detention. The project grew out of the work of Bronx Defenders, which saw over a decade the people it bailed out nearly all showed up for court dates and most did not get into new trouble while out of jail. Now the Bail Project is expanding with new offices in four Southern states, a reflection of the region's high incarceration rates and racial disparities. In the campaign to end cash bail as a penalty for poverty, bail funds serve as a stopgap.

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Outreach officers treat homelessness as a symptom, not a crime

Stephanie Casanova

May 01, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team operates on the premise that even though many want to see police excluded from any role in dealing with homelessness, residents still call 911 and demand a police response. So the team, working with the city's homeless services counselors, can usually turn such contacts into an offer of help. Its officers are trained more and have more time than patrol officers to talk to people and determine their needs. Tucson's unhoused population surged in 2020, and police helped hundreds get housed or get other services without resorting to arrests and jail.

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Police visit patients, offer rides to mental health treatment

Stephanie Casanova

April 30, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

When people refuse mental health care while under court orders to get treatment, Tucson police send a mental health support team to take the people to crisis observation clinics or hospitals. The teams have the training and extra time that regular patrol officers often lack, so that such calls can result in a peaceful transport to get the person help, rather than to jail or ending in violence. Having the police involved at all poses policy questions that agencies wrestle with. But thousands of people per year are getting transported to places providing care instead of punishment.

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They answer the call when people are in crisis

Gino Fanelli

April 29, 2021 |

City Newspaper (Rochester) |

Text |

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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Dependency Court Programs Focus On Babies' Health

Martín Macías, Jr.

April 29, 2021 |

The Imprint |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tacoma, Washington

The Safe Babies program model trains judges to oversee foster-care cases with the goal of fixing the problems that led social workers to remove young children from their homes. Operating swiftly, so that babies do not lose precious weeks and months apart from their parents at a critical time, programs like Best For Babies in Pierce County, Washington, put teams of medical and mental health experts on a case. Nationwide, the program used in 30 states makes family reunification much more likely and rapid, with healthier parental attachments and child development.

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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 |

Text |

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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Philly Under Fire Episode 4: A Fresh 24

Jo Piazza

April 29, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia's PowerCorpsPHL and a larger program it resembles, Chicago's CRED, spring from one reality: Young men prone to gun violence will readily leave street violence and the underground economy if offered the opportunity for a legitimate job. In Philly, the strategy worked even when the jobs barely pay minimum wage. When pay jumped $3 per hour, the rate at which program participants got arrested dropped from 8% to 3% immediately, versus the city average recidivism rate of about 50%. The programs also provide GED classes, trauma counseling, and other services meant to change lives permanently.

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