The Company Behind America's Scariest School Shooter Drills

Sylvia Varnham O'Regan

December 13, 2019 |

The Trace |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The ALICE Training Institute, a for-profit offering active shooter training, teaches participants to take a proactive approach to active shooters, differing from the long-held lock down approach. And while they’ve grown in popularity – the school security industry has grown to be worth $2.7 billion since Columbine – experts and school officials are questioning the approach’s efficacy and quality control. With constant debate and cultural shifts over who bears responsibility to prepare for and protect from shootings, parents are left wondering who or what will really keep their kids safe.

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Reporting for Work Where You Once Reported for Probation

Ted Alcorn

December 13, 2019 |

The Atlantic |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Since 2012, the New York City Department of Probation’s Arches program has integrated “credible messengers” into its mission, diverting some energies toward helping instead of punishing. The term refers to people, often formerly incarcerated or on probation themselves, who apply their street knowledge to mentoring youth caught up in the criminal justice system. The movement has spread to a variety of government agencies, but usually is used in street-outreach crime prevention work by community organizations. A large body of research shows the effectiveness of the approach in lowered crime and recidivism.

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The Sandy Hook Nonprofit Fighting Shootings by Fostering More Inclusive Schools

Amanda Loudin

December 11, 2019 |

The Trace |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Ellicott City, Maryland

Start With Hello, an initiative from the NGO Sandy Hook Promise, gives students the opportunity to diversify who they know and interact with in a long-term effort to prevent school violence and shootings. The program, funded by public and private grants, has spread to 11,600 schools across the United States, with each school also getting training on inclusivity. While an impact evaluation hasn't been finished, early studies show that those who participate in the program respond better to mental distress.

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Philly wants to bring back a version of an old strategy to fight gun violence. Specifics are pending.

Chris Palmer

December 06, 2019 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Starting in 2013, Philadelphia's focused deterrence program was credited with 35% fewer shootings in its targeted neighborhoods. The program featured "call-ins" where law-enforcement agencies would threaten potentially violent people with prosecution. On the flip side, they could receive services that help them establish a different lifestyle. As the program shifted away from the services "carrots," and was left only with the "stick," the program foundered. In 2019, the city sought to revive it as a "group violence intervention" program with a greater emphasis on services over law enforcement.

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Can basketball reduce gun violence? It did in Richmond, Virginia.

Larry Platt

December 06, 2019 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Richmond, Virginia

RVA League For Safer Streets uses a basketball league as "bait" to change young men's lives by teaching critical thinking and better ways to resolve conflicts. The Richmond, Virginia, program was co-founded in prison by a former drug dealer convicted of murder who learned the methods of cognitive behavioral therapy behind bars. Paroled after 23 years, he began counseling youth with an approach that police say contributed to a significant drop in Richmond's gang violence and other crime.

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Čeští experti pomáhají džihádistům zpět do společnosti. Spolupracují s věznicemi napříč Evropou

Tereza Engelová

November 28, 2019 |

HlídacíPes.org |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Czech Republic

Čeští experti z ČVUT se podílí na boji proti terorismu. Vytvořili online výukovou platformu HERMES, která přispívá k deradikalizaci bývalých džihádistů a k prevenci náboru nových lidí pro teroristickou činnost. Pomocí interaktivních cvičení a dalších vzdělávacích nástrojů učí odborníky, kteří se podílejí na procesu reintegrace potenciálně závadových osob do společnosti, jak oddělit radikální džihádisty od ostatních vězňů. Platforma se také zaměřuje na prevenci šíření radikálních myšlenek a možnosti pracovního uplatnění propuštěných věznů.

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This Baltimore anti-violence program courts youths most at risk of crime. ‘The alternative is death or jail.'

Jessica Anderson

November 26, 2019 |

The Baltimore Sun |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

In the first year of Baltimore's use of an anti-violence program for young men that has proven successful in Boston, the program successfully reached about half its targeted contacts, and from that group enrolled about 95, or just over 1%, in job training and education programs. Though extremely modest, the numbers indicate the challenges faced by a population in which several died, many got incarcerated, and many others resisted contact. The program, Roca, uses behavioral therapy to turn job training into life training. In Boston, large numbers get jobs and stay out of trouble long term.

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After positive results, Minneapolis looks to expand anti-violence program

Jessica Lee

November 18, 2019 |

MinnPost |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

About 40% fewer people were shot in gang-related disputes in Minneapolis during one interval in the first year of the city's Group Violence Intervention initiative. The program uses "call-ins" where people at high risk of shootings meet with law enforcement and other agencies. There they are offered incentives, including needed services, to stop the shootings. It also puts former gang members on the streets, without police involvement, to mediate disputes and counsel young men prone to violence. Based on the initial results, officials planned to expand the program to more parts of the city.

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The police experiment that changed what we know about foot patrol

Liz Tung

November 15, 2019 |

WHYY |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Of the three most notable experiments testing the effectiveness of police foot patrols at reducing crime, only one – the Philadelphia Foot Patrol Experiment – showed a significant reduction in violence, thanks to a three-month randomized controlled trial. By rethinking an old practice and infusing it with data-driven thinking about focusing on "hot spots," the Philadelphia brand of foot patrols debunked the myth that patrol might, at best, only improve community relations without having an effect on crime. But random car patrols, reacting mainly to radio calls, remains the dominant approach nationwide.

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Recife is tackling violence by making life better for its youngest residents

Megan Clement

November 15, 2019 |

Apolitical |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Recife, Pernambuco

The Brazilian city of Recife is tackling violence prevention by focusing on early-childhood education through a program called Urban95. In addition to painting the streets and buildings bright colors, Urban95 offers accessible services like pre- and post-natal services to caregivers and storytelling & play opportunities for young children. The program was rolled out in two communities, and one proved more successful than the other because it partnered with a preexisting organization within the community.

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