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This strategy helped stop murders, prosecutors say. But Kansas City police killed it

Glenn E. Rice Luke Nozicka

January 19, 2020 |

The Kansas City Star |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Within a year of its creation, a state-federal collaboration to reduce gun violence in Kansas City seemed to result in a deep decline in killings. But the program, called Kansas City No Violence Alliance, collapsed by 2019 after police pulled their support. The program's approach, called focused deterrence, has been proven effective in multiple studies in other cities. But an analysis of the program in Kansas City found multiple failures in consistently getting targeted people to attend call-ins, where they are threatened with arrest if they commit violence but offered social services to choose another path.

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Coaxing Cops To Tackle Cybercrime? There's An App For That

Martin Kaste

January 16, 2020 |

NPR |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Training more local police officers in the latest cybercrime tactics poses daunting obstacles. But a pilot project by New York Police Department found the next best alternative: teaching cops how to collect the information an expert will need to solve complex crimes involving the use of technology. Their Cyber Investigative Standards phone app walks an investigating officer through the questions to ask. The experiment showed NYPD that such crimes are indeed more local than assumed, and more solvable if tackled diligently and quickly.

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The Cycle Of Chronic Gun Violence: How One Community Looks To Save Lives In A New Year

Adhiti Bandlamudi

January 15, 2020 |

WUNC |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

Gun homicides in Durham increased an alarming 20% in 2019, but one bright spot was the county public health department's Bull City United program. Since 2016, BCU is credited with reducing shootings by 28% in two areas where it was deployed. BCU follows the Cure Violence model, a violence interruption strategy using mediators, sometimes former gang members, to intervene face to face when disputes seem headed for gunfire, offering services to help young people. This public-health model of stopping the spread of violence can fail if used in a transient neighborhood lacking community organizers.

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Important lessons for Philadelphia from Chicago's three-year decline in gun violence

The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board

January 10, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Since 2016, Chicago has seen a 37% decrease in homicides with a comprehensive, targeted approach toward violence. The city developed a multi-pronged approach, including a collaboration between foundations and funders, a partnership that analyzed police decision-making, resource allocation toward a new gun-violence-focused prosecution unit, and targeted investment in high-risk individuals. With such success, cities like Philadelphia – also experiencing an increase in homicides – look to Chicago for lessons learned.

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ALICE Is Overstating the Effectiveness of Its Active Shooter Trainings

Champe Barton

January 08, 2020 |

The Trace |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

The ALICE Training Institute provides active-shooter training for schools around the United States. The organization’s website says that 18 schools have had success using its protocol, and yet an investigation by The Trace found that many of the schools they count as a success actually strayed from its methods. While lacking in proof of concept, school officials did report increased sense of safety and confidence because of the trainings.

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Baltimore crime crisis: How about trying something that worked before?

Dan Rodricks

January 01, 2020 |

The Baltimore Sun |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

When Baltimore put the necessary resources behind a “call-in” program that intervenes with people likely to commit gun violence, from 2006 to 2012, homicides dropped by 30% and shootings by 40%. The program, which no longer is used in the city consistently enough or with sufficient resources, summons people on probation or parole for gun crimes. A panel of law enforcement, social workers, and community members pairs the threat of federal prosecution and imprisonment with social services to help people build a new life. This approach has been shown in many cities to be effective at reducing violence.

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The Cost of Regulating Pain

Anastassia Gliadkovskaya

December 20, 2019 |

Secret Structures |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The CDC's 2016 guidelines on prescribing opioids for chronic pain attempted to address the opioid-addiction crisis by restricting the supply of the drugs at their source. The guidelines discouraged their use when possible and suggested strategies to taper patients off of them. Since then, thousands of people have lost access to necessary medications and to their doctors, thanks to overreactions to the CDC guidelines that unintentionally led to deaths by street drugs or withdrawal.

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How They Did It: Investigating a Country with 2,000 Clandestine Graves

Catalina Lobo-Guerrero

December 17, 2019 |

Global Investigative Journalism Network |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Mexico

A nearly two-year investigation of Mexicans who had gone missing, and presumably murdered, produced a series of stories based on the database of at least 2,000 graves across Mexico. A group of independent reporters and photographers called “¿A dónde van los desaparecidos?” (where do the disappeared go?) supplied victims' families with information that previous government and private efforts had not, and that fueled demands for definitive information on their loved ones' deaths. More than 40,000 people have been reported missing in Mexico since 2006 amid drug-related violence.

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Boone County Drug Court addresses racial disparities and trauma through grant

Sarah Haselhorst

December 17, 2019 |

Columbia Missourian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Columbia, Missouri

In Boone County, Missouri the Habilitation Empowerment Accountability Therapy (HEAT) program offers young men an alternative to incarceration for drug-related offenses. The program works primarily with black men, many of whom bring issues of childhood and generational trauma, to work together toward their treatment plans, finding employment, and behavioral therapy. Fundamental to all of HEAT’s programming is the consideration of underlying factors like education, exposure to violence, and socioeconomic forces.

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Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

David McCabe Kate Conger

December 17, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

The passage of the 2018 Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act was meant to hold accountable the online platforms where sex trafficking and sex work took place, but a year into its existence, it has shown negative, unintended consequences. The legislation has effectively shown an impact in moving sex trafficking offline, but experts now say it has moved onto the street, making it harder to track and catch.

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